(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-03-09 09:59

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A foot of snow buried parts of the Ohio and Tennessee valleys early Saturday, creating whiteout conditions and keeping many would-be weekend travelers at home.

Winter storm warnings were in effect from eastern Kentucky to upstate New York and northern Maine, the National Weather Service said. Winds up to 35 mph (56 kph) whipped the snow and cut visibility to less than a quarter mile (0.4 kilometer) in places, the weather service said.

Richard Shafer braves a snowy weather for a grocery run as the snow contrinues accumulating Saturday, March 8, 2008 in Columbus, Ohio. [Agencies]

As much as 10 inches (25 centimeters) of snow fell overnight in Ohio, where up to 5 more inches (13 centimeters) was possible, and 13 inches (33 centimeters) fell on north-central Kentucky's Owen County, the National Weather Service said. Louisville, Kentucky, and Middle Tennessee got up to a foot, the weather service said.

It was the deepest snow at Louisville since a storm in February 1998 dumped 22 inches over three days, the weather service said. More than 100 motorists had to be rescued from stuck vehicles during the night in Louisville, said Kerri Richardson, a spokeswoman for Mayor Jerry Abramson.

Up to a foot (30 centimeters) was possible by Sunday in western New York, meteorologists said. Even the southern state of Mississippi got 5 inches (13 centimeters) to 7 inches (18 centimeters) of snow in northern parts of the state, the weather service said.

The wind piled snow into drifts as much as 5 feet (1.5 meters) high in parts of central Kentucky, police dispatcher John Woosley said.

It was a continuation of the storm that on Friday piled up snow a foot (30 centimeters) deep in Arkansas and blacked out thousands of homes and businesses from that state to the Great Lakes.

One Ohio traffic death was blamed on the weather Friday, with two in western New York state and one in Tennessee. Two people were killed as tornadoes struck several Florida communities.