Frigid U.S. Midwest could see more snow

A wave crashes ashore along Lake Michigan in Chicago January 8, 2010.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Blowing snow and frigid temperatures have left the U.S. Midwest in a deep freeze for most of the new year, with the possibility of more wicked weather next week, a forecaster said Friday.

The National Weather Service issued wind chill advisories and warnings for several areas across the Midwest today.

"The region is expected to have dangerous wind chills and very tough weather through the weekend," said Mike Palmerino, a forecaster at DTN Meteorlogix in Boston.

There is another winter storm developing over the U.S. Delta, but weather forecasting models disagree over its direction.

"There is going to be a significant storm next week, no question about that, the uncertainty lies in tracking its movement," Palmerino said.

"The U.S. model wants to bring it up in the Corn Belt, possibly moving east of St. Louis to Chicago. The European model does not. We won't know until early next week," Palmerino said.

Meanwhile, high temperatures in the western Midwest will range between 5 and 15 Fahrenheit (minus 15 to minus 9 Celsius) with lows between 10 and minus 20 F through Saturday.

Temperatures in the eastern Midwest are expected to range between minus 5 and mid-20s F.

Dangerous roads will hamper the movement of livestock on Friday and Saturday. Several inches of snowfall are still on the ground in many areas of the Midwest from previous storms, and transportation officials were warning people to stay off the roads.

Livestock dealers said transportation difficulties caused several Iowa pork plants to cancel their first production shifts. Additionally, more than two feet of snow was on the ground in Nebraska and Iowa, and Friday's problems were the result of overnight winds that caused snowdrifts on the roads.

(Reporting by Bob Burgdorfer; Editing by John Picinich)