Tornadoes kill 6 in mid-South as blizzards hit Dakotas

SIOUX FALLS, South Dakota (Reuters) - New Year's Eve brought disastrous weather to the nation's mid-section, with a blizzard in the Dakotas and tornadoes that killed six people in Arkansas and Missouri.

Tornadoes killed three people on Friday in Washington County in northwest Arkansas, two in Lecoma, Missouri and one in Rolla, Missouri, according to emergency officials. Missouri declared a state of emergency.

Severe thunderstorms also produced tornadoes in eastern and central Illinois, and around St. Louis.

"It was incredible, hard to believe, cars were overturned, trucks overturned and damaged," said Bill Nolan, mayor of Sunset Hills, a St. Louis suburb.

The Dakotas got a one-two punch, said senior meteorologist Mike Palmerino of Telvent/DTN. The northern plains states saw up to six inches of snow Thursday, followed by a severe drop in temperature, he said.

This was followed by a "major blizzard" on Friday, with snowfall expected of up to 10-12 inches accompanied by strong winds and bitter cold. The storm extends into western Minnesota.

"It looks like a really dangerous storm today," Palmerino said.

For the first time in 20 years, Great Bear Ski Park canceled

its New Year's Eve celebration in South Dakota due to high winds and sub-zero temperatures forecast for Friday evening. General manager Dan Grider said high winds create unsafe operating conditions for the ski lift.

"I'm really disappointed but it's the right thing to do," said Grider. Wind chills are expected to dip under 20 degrees below zero, according to the South Dakota Department of Transportation.

Starting at 4:30 p.m. portions of Interstates I-90 and I-29 closed due to high winds and dangerous wind chills, essentially stranding travelers in the Sioux Falls, S.D. area.

Lines formed at grocery stores in Sioux Falls, South Dakota Friday morning as residents stocked up on supplies.

Tom Dravland, secretary of public safety in South Dakota, cautioned people traveling to New Year's Eve parties.

"We hope that folks will use good judgment and really try to limit their travel today," he told reporters.

Thursday's storm had already wreaked traffic havoc around the plains. One accident involved 100 vehicles on I-94 west of Fargo, North Dakota, on Thursday morning, injuring four people, said Eldon Mehrer, commander for the North Dakota State Highway Patrol.

Omaha, Nebraska, and Des Moines, Iowa, had temperatures in the '60s Thursday plummet into the low teens on Friday, Palmerino said. A similar pattern was expected in Chicago.

"The main news is going to be the dramatic shift from unseasonably warm weather back to winter cold," he said, adding that the changing temperature had fed the tornado conditions.

Palmerino said the temperature extremes fueled the severe thunderstorm and tornado conditions in the lower Mississippi valley, from Arkansas into Louisiana, going across Mississippi and into Alabama.

(Additional reporting by Eric Johnson and Bruce Olson; Writing by Mary Wisniewski; Editing by Jerry Norton)