Two Dead In Winter's Last Gasp

(CBS/AP)  A storm system barreled across the Plains states on the last day of winter, piling snow more than a foot deep that stalled highway and train travelers in South Dakota and Colorado and causing flooding in Texas.

Hundreds of schools were closed Monday in Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado and South Dakota, and six-foot snowdrifts were reported in western South Dakota.

At least two deaths were blamed on the storm, one in Colorado and the other in Dallas.

Spring officially began Monday at 1:26 p.m. EST.

"The roads are terrible, just terrible," said Shirley Tomac, 49, of Elizabeth, Colo., about 25 miles southeast of Denver. Her 5-mile drive to work took about twice as long as usual Monday.

The storm even stymied lawmakers. Monday had been scheduled as the final day of the South Dakota Legislature's 2006 session in Pierre, but it had to be postponed to Tuesday, said Senate Republican Leader Eric Bogue.

About 200 miles of Interstate 90 was closed Monday across South Dakota from Rapid City to Chamberlain because of the heavy snow and stuck trailer-trailer rigs. It had been shut down since Sunday afternoon.

"It's pretty rare. We do it for everybody's safety. That's our main thing," South Dakota Highway Patrol Mike Welter said.

Brigitte Buck and her husband were trying to drive home on I-90 to Rapid City but had to wait out the storm at the town of Oacoma, across the Missouri River from Chamberlain.

"We knew it was coming," Buck said. "We were just hoping it wouldn't be this bad."

Felicia Cole, the night auditor at the Days Inn in Council Bluffs, Iowa, told CBS Radio News the storm is expected to be the worst of this winter for her area.

"The snow is pretty deep. We're expecting anywhere from about 15 to 16 inches of snow. It started yesterday morning about 6:20, and it's been snowing consistently. It's pretty bad," Cole said.

About 50 miles of westbound I-80 was closed in western Nebraska, the State Patrol said.

Up to 13 inches of snow was reported in Nebraska and South Dakota, with 11 inches in eastern Colorado.

"We're seeing everywhere from a few inches all the way up to nearly a foot of snow all along the Front Range," reports Karlyn Tilley of CBS station KCNC in Denver.

All of Colorado's major highways and Denver International Airport were open Monday, but on Sunday two passenger trains were stalled for hours in the mountains after a separate rail maintenance vehicle derailed because of the storm.

The Ski Train, which runs between Denver and the Winter Park resort, was stuck for about five hours with some 700 aboard.

"Having to sit on a train that wasn't moving wasn't what we wanted," said Erin Flanagan, who lugged ski gear and shepherded her two children, ages 6 and 8, off the Ski Train after it finally arrived in Denver.

Farther south, heavy rain during the weekend soaked parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.

The rains were the first real relief in weeks for wildfire-ravaged Texas, but falling at 2 inches an hour, one problem just replaced another, reports CBS News correspondent Lee Cowan. The water rose so fast in some places, residents barely had time to get out.

Up to 8 inches of rain was reported in North Texas, causing weekend flooding around the Dallas area. That eased what has been classified as a "severe" drought in the region, but the National Weather Service said the Dallas-Fort Worth area is still 11.5 inches below normal.

"There are houses that have water coming in them, and there are cars that are submerged" across the Dallas-Fort Worth area, said National Weather Service meteorologist Ted Ryan. He said the storms were expected to continue Monday.

About 300 miles northwest of the Dallas area, northern parts of the Texas Panhandle ravaged by deadly wildfires last week were under a winter storm warning with up to 8 inches of snow possible.

The body of a woman was recovered from a Dallas creek, police Senior Cpl. Max Geron said. Officials believed high water swept her car off a road. In Colorado, one person was killed in a traffic accident on a slush-covered road, the State Patrol said.