Early Snowstorms Hit Midwest

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Blizzards rolled into parts of Wyoming and South Dakota on Friday, bringing the snow-savvy states to an unseasonably early wintery standstill by closing highways and schools, and even forcing a tourist town to cancel its annual Octoberfest's polka-dancing bar crawl.

A foot of snow had fallen in western South Dakota's scenic Black Hills by early Friday, though residents were bracing for as much as 3 feet of the wet, heavy snow and wind gusts of up to 70 mph. The storm system spawned a tornado the night before in Nebraska and was threatening to push thunderstorms as far east as Wisconsin.

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