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Late snow blankets Midwest

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A rare late spring snowstorm dumped up to a foot of snow on parts of the Midwest on Sunday, knocking out power to thousands of customers.

Slippery pavement caused spinouts, but no injuries were reported, officials said.

The two-day storm brought temperatures 25 degrees below the normal of about 60 as snow fell across parts of Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina.

"My wife is livid because this was a long winter. ... Even people who normally don't complain about it are at the end of their wits," said Frank Hanley, who said he had a foot of heavy, wet snow on his deck in the northeastern Ohio town of Chardon.

Total accumulations of up to 18 inches were possible in parts of eastern Michigan, while Detroit's northern suburbs were expected to receive 5 to 11 inches, meteorologists said. In Ohio, suburbs east of Cleveland were to get about 8 inches.

By midday Sunday, about 5 inches of snow had fallen on Grandfather Mountain in western North Carolina and accumulations reached half a foot near the northern Tennessee line, the National Weather Service reported.

The low on Grandfather Mountain dropped to 16 degrees overnight and winds reached 139 mph, meteorologists said.

The storm was expected to taper off late Sunday, and temperatures in the region were expected to climb to about 50 degrees today.

The heavy snow snapped tree branches and power lines, and about 18,000 FirstEnergy customers in the Cleveland area lost power Sunday. Some might not have their electricity restored until today, utility spokesman Mark Durbin said.

"The snow is clinging to the buds on those trees and it's really pulling stuff down" onto the power lines, Durbin said.

Kathy Carney, a waitress at the Maple Leaf Restaurant in Chardon, said it was busier than usual at breakfast Sunday. "It's extra busy because people don't have power. It's like a blizzard out there. It's snowing like crazy," she said.

Spring began March 20.

[Last modified April 25, 2005, 01:05:08]