Ice storm headed to Midwest overnight

CHICAGO (Reuters) - An ice storm was headed to parts of the Midwest later in the weekend and could create dangerous travel conditions in the region, a weather forecaster said on Saturday.

A warmer air mass was moving north and clashing with the cold front that has hovered over the region in recent days, creating freezing rain, ice and sleet, said Mark Paquette, meteorologist with AccuWeather.com.

"You don't need much ice to have major travel headaches," said Paquette.

The ice storm is expected to begin late on Saturday night in the St. Louis area and northern Missouri, southern and central Iowa and northern Nebraska.

By Sunday afternoon, the ice will spread to Chicago, Indianapolis, Columbus, Ohio, Detroit, Minneapolis and Madison and Milwaukee in Wisconsin.

By Monday the ice could move into the northeast and mid-Atlantic regions of the country.

Temperatures will be warmer than the frigid levels of recent days in most of the eastern two-thirds of the country, he said.

This winter has been unusually cold and with less snow than usual.

(Editing by Doina Chiacu)