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© Reed/Reuters
A huge storm followed by arctic cold threatened much of the upper quarter of the United States.

Forecasters predicted a monster storm this weekend -- possibly the worst of the season -- stretching from the Great Lakes to the central Appalachians, dumping snow and rain coupled with high winds over a wide area with blizzard conditions possible. Accuweather.com predicted poor travel conditions through much of the area but it was unclear where the rain-snow divide would come.

The snow is expected to begin over Iowa Saturday and then spread east and north, dumping 6 to 12 inches with higher amounts expected in lake-effect regions, possibly as much as 3 feet.

The Buffalo, N.Y.-area already has four feet of snow on the ground and in Western Michigan, 12 to 18 inches of snow has fallen since Sunday.

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