Now that its d dk, driving will be even more difficult. Bruce and beth . The iowa dot says the timing of this storm has helped snow plowrews out on the roads. Kcrgtv9s Dave Franzman is out live in downtown the iowa dot says the timing of this storm has helped snow plow crews out on the roads. Live in downtown cedar rapids. Dave, some plow drivers are saying the calendar helped them clear the roads . Beth, stranan as it sounds, you could have worse mondays for snow and sleet. Since were between christmas and new years all the schools are already clcled. A loloof people also take vacation or holidays this week. And dot plow drivers working on the highways and interstates noticed the difrence. T nat mitch wood, a supervisor at the dot garage in cedar rapids, says it was something plow drivers noticed right away this morning. They even chatted about it on the truck radios. Plows werent sharing the road with quite as many vehicles on the morning commute. Some of it might simply be the weather with many people deciding to statahome until the roadadwere cleared. Sot nat but more likely, with no school and many drivers on just didnt need to try to make it somewhere. And it made a difference. The less traffic out there the faster our trucks can make the rounds and get material to the road and put material out on each section of the roadway. Wood says another plus for this storm was temperatures, at least early on, hovered around 30 degrees. That memet crews would get the maximum melting benefit out of the salt and sand put on roads without the need for repeat applications. Sot nat this isnt the first storm of the season. The cedar rapids areb saw about six inches of snow back on november 21st. After that, things warmed up. But one resident out clearing the driveway wasnt fooled. No, i figured sooner or later we were going to get it. Is this getting it. Yh, this is getting it of course its not over and many communities declared snow emergencies lasting through the cleanup on tuesday. A snow emergency means s ivers park on the marked snow routes so plows can clear the snow. A number of counties also imposed a ban on towing vehicles out of ditches until cocoitions improve. Live in cedar rapids, Dave Franzman kcrg tv9 news this storm means snow Removal Companies are finally back in business after weeks of no snow in most of eastern iowa. One of them is dubuque lawn and snow. That business considers about 12 large snow events to be a normal winter. And todays storm means theyre getting a chance to give their equipment a workout. Todayasnt too bad, we started around 8am, the snow didnt start until a little lalar this morning but with the Weather Forecast well be busy all through the night and will go well into tomorrow before most things get wrapped up. Other commercial snow removal businesses say theyeyl keep working throuou the night to clear this storm system is having an impact on much of the middle of the country. Millions of americans are in the path of the storm. Missouri is undnd a state of emergency today after historically heavy rains caused flash flooding. Rushing waters engulfed homes and shut down major highways. At least 16 people drowned in misouri a number of them died when they drove their vehicles through flooded roadways. It makes us all pretty sick to our stomachs and its a sad, sad thing. We wish this could not have happened especially on a holiday weekend. In texas, cleanup is underway after a string of tornadoes swept through over the weekend killing 11 people. And in oklahoma, thousan are without powerr after high winds and thihi ice snapped power lines this large storm sysyem has caused airlines to cancel more than 14 hundred flights. That includes at least a half dozen at the Eastern Iowa Airport in cedar rapids. The weather has also delayed about 26hundred flights ound the country. You cananind the full list of Community Cancellations on kcrg dot com and at the a charter bus crash ichicago has killed an iowa wowon. Police say the bubu driver lost control on interstate 55 about 640 this morning. The bus hit a construction sign. Police say the driver told them he swerved to avoid a pickup tt moved into the bus lane. Authorities say 21year old Nicole Underwood from des moines died in the crash. Four people also had non lifethreatening injuries. Part of the preparations for the rose bowl used to includede competition over whwhh team could eat the most prime rib at A Los Angeles restaurant. The prime rib meal at the restaurant continues, but whout the competition. And eating all that beef shouldnt t fect the team preparing for fridays game. Continue through the evening and the night. Widespread totals of four to eight inches are likely with some locally higher amounts wesand lower amounts south. Much f this activity willllaper off by midnight. Winds will remain gusty, going as high as 30 mph. Mostly cloudy skies continue tomorrow with lighter winds and highs in the 20s. Some light snow is possible tomorrow but accumulation s look very minor. The week will end on a colder note with highs in the upper teens. Tonight snow sleet end low 2228 winds n 1530 alo 23 dbq 25 iow 26 tomorrow mostly cloudy high 2430 winds w 515 alo 26 dbq 27 iowow28 tomorrow night chance of light snow low 1521 winds w 510 a a 16 dbq 18 iow light snow high 27 low 18 thursday mostly cloudy high 18 low 12 friday mostly sunny high 19 low 5 saturday mostly sunny high 25 low 8 sunday mostly cloudy high 28 low 12 monday mostly cloudy high 24 low 13 First Alert Storm Team is in the kcrgtv9 mobile weather lab. Chris, how are the roads where you are . Roads in eastern iowa are partially to compmpeted ccer at this hour. Crere have been out m mh of the day trying to keep up with the winter storm. Now that its dark, driving will be even more difficult. Bruce and beth . The iowa hawkeyes preparations bowl also include a little fun off the football field it included a rose bowl tradition that started nearly 60 years ago. Stay with your 24 hour news source, kcrgtv9. Hey this holiday, u. S. Cellulars giving you 15 gigs of data for just 70 but i wanted a pony. [ gasps ] youre getting data. Ponysized data . U. S. Cellular sized data. 15 gigs of good, strong data you can actually use becae it works in the middle of anywherer youre getting 400 in promo cards yes switch to u. S. Cellular and get 15 gigs of data for just . First rose bowl i i25 years, going up against the stanford cardinal. Tv9s Scott Westerberg is in california with a look at one of thlongtime traditions that surround the big game. Whether its the palm trees, the millions of people or the beautiful weather, theres not a lot in downtntn la that feels much like iowa. However, last night the players did get a taste of the midwest. In a a rose bowl tradition that dates back to 1957, the team visited lawrys restaurant in Beverly Hills for the annual beef bowl. It used to be a competitioto see which team and player ate the most prime rib, time and great food. Prime rib, yeah i had a little bit of that back home, so this w a delicious one. I love a good steak or prime rib, so it was perfect for me. I had two prime ribs. I did. I know bo bower had three of them. Hes kind of a big guy, not really though. This is like a monday for us with g ame week preparation so just use good judgement. We want tem to enjoy it. They 3till have a couple days to work it off. These guys burn a lot of energy and calories, so im reallylynot toto worried about that. From here on out it will be all business for the hawkeyes as they get ready for fridays game. Stanford will get to enjoy the beef bowl tonight. From downtown los angeles, Scott Westerberg kcrgtv9 news. The hawkeyes will face stanford in the rose bowl on new years day. Kickofffs justtafter 4 pm, iowa timim. You can watch the game on espn. D due to the weather, were soning night on iowa live at the rst avenudraught house in cedar rapids. Instead`we will reair a previous show wwth hawkeye Athletic Director gary barta. Thats at 6 30 tonight on kcrg nine point two. Our live show will be at 6 30 tomorrow night witit guests gavin mcgrath, josh oglesby, and the iowa city west Boys Basketball team. Many people may have put off getting their snowblowers tunededp or hauling their shovels from storage because of our recent mild weather. Todays winter storm reminded people of those needs, and thats been keeping repair shops and Hardware Stores busy. And Authorities Say to stay y home tonight if you dont have to go out. Stay with your 24 hour news source, kcrgtv9. Created a need for snow removal. And that means big business for stores that sell and repair snow blowers. Tv nines brady smith spped at one local store to see how the storms affecting business there, and he joins us live from cedar rapids. Brady, this winter is quite a bit different from the last one. Employees at the sled shed say after the snowstorm we got back in novovber, its been really quiet for customers in for last minute repairs and pupuhases. Ben burns is a technician at the sled shed. He says the line of customers waiting for lately. But thihimorning they did have several people purchase new snowblowers. That had him assembling more to replace those sold off the showrwrm floor. Burns says because many people havent fired up their machines even once this winter, one common issue has been popping up. Stale fuel. You dont know when thth next snows coming, so you leave it in there, and you know a month later, you can have a bad fuel situation. Other area stores saw an uptick in sales for winter items starting last night and going well into this morning. We stopped by an area car wash that expects this moneymaker for them, and well hear from them tonight on the news at 6. Live in downtown cedar rapids, brady smith, kcrg tv9 news. Thanks, brady. State, county and local road crews are out trying to keep up with this winter storm. First Alert Storm Team meteorologist chris havely is checking on Road Conditions he joins us live in the kcrgtv9 mobile weather lab. Chris, where are you right now . Roads in eastern iowa are partially to completed cover at this hour. Crews have been out much of t t day trying to keep up with the winter storm. Now that its dark, driving will be even more difficult. Bruce and beth . Now heres a look at some of abc. Lets go back to justin now for Food Delivery Services are busy today as people decide to stay in and order out. The winter storm is causing some delays for people trying to catch a flight to pasadena for the rose bowl. Continue through the evening and first part of the night. Widespread totals of four to eight inches are likely with some locally higher amounts west and lower amounts south. Much of this activity will taper off winds will remain gusty, going as high as 30 mph. Mososy cloudy skies continue tomorrow with lighter winds and highs in the 20s. Some light snow is possible tomorrow night into wednesday but accumulation s look very minor. The week will end on a colder note with highs in the upper teens. Tonight snow slt end low 2228 winds n 1530 alo 23 dbq 25 ioio 26 thank y y for joining us for kcrgtv9 news at 5. Now we go to new york for abcs world news with david muir. Tonight, the breaking news. The massive and deadly storm. Oh, my god tornadoes, the blizzard, and now the snow and ice. Millions of drivers facing horrendous conditions. One couple trapped in their car for 20 hours. 30 states under warnings and watches tonight. The travel chaos this evening. More than 1,000 flights cceled in chicagoalone. The Ripple Effect coast to coast, as millions now try to get home. The breaking news. The prosecutor just a sho time 12yearold boy shot andilled