A major winter storm is rearing its ugly head at residents of the South yetagain. Heavy snow has already blanketed areas of central Kansas into Tuesdayafternoon, with over 6 inches falling north of Wichita.The snow, however, will not be easy to measure with the 30- to 40-mph windswhipping it around. Blowing and drifting will be a major concern with almostzero visibility at times.

Tuesday night into Wednesday, this wind-whipped snow will shift south intoOklahoma, Arkansas and western Texas. Near-blizzard conditWeather HeadlinesTue, 08 Feb 2011 15:18:23 ESTIWS0Tue, 08 Feb 2011 14:20:25 ESTArctic Cold BlastOvernight lows Tuesday night will crash to as much as 29 below zero acrossNorth and South Dakota, and subzero temperatures will make their presence feltas far south as the Iowa and Missouri line.The extent of the cold expanded on Tuesday to cover areas farther east into theUpper Midwest and Great Lakes. In Chicago, the mercury struggled to rise out ofthe single digits. Meanwhile, farther east into the Ohio Valley, Columbus,Ohio, had highs stuck in the upper teens.

Wednesday, the core of the cold will not move, while the western High Plainsbegin to recover. Thursday will feature cold conditions with below-normaltemperatures in the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes while temperatures recover inthe Plains.

Story by AccuWeather.com Meteorologist Justin Povick.