Storm Could Be Biggest in Decades

Travel warnings were issued and snowplows readied as a powerful winter storm gathered strength and took aim at the Midwest, authorities said. A moderate snowfall produced accumulations in the Dakotas while heavy thunderstorms pounded East Texas as two storms along a frontal system converged and threatened the Midwest with its heaviest snow in decades, meteorologists said. “In Chicago, you could possibly have the biggest snowstorm in 20 years [over the weekend],” said Jon Racy, a forecaster at the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center. High winds at the back of the storm were expected to create blizzard conditions.