WASHINGTON, Dec 23: A snowstorm packing strong winds caused flight delays and closed highways across the central United States, leaving at least five dead in road accidents, US media reported on Sunday.

The National Weather Service warned travel conditions had deteriorated at the weekend in Midwestern states stretching from northern Missouri to Michigan due to snow and high wind.

“A combination of heavy snow, strong winds and bitter windchills will make any form of travel dangerous if not impossible in some areas,” the service said on Sunday in a warning for parts of Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota.

The harsh weather posed a potential hazard for travellers ahead of the Christmas holiday on Tuesday and for presidential candidates campaigning in the state of Iowa, which on Jan 3 holds the first contest for each party’s nomination race.

A heavy winter storm warning was issued for upper Michigan near the US border with Canada, where the weather service said “total snowfall through Sunday night will be four to seven inches (10 to 17 centimetres).” In Texas, blowing snow reduced visibility and caused a massive pile-up of cars and trucks on Saturday morning, leaving one dead and five others seriously injured, according to the Amarillo Globe-News.

The accident involved some 80 vehicles and shutdown Interstate 40 and another highway for hours, the paper reported.—AFP