Update: Roads nearly completely covered - CBS4 - WHBF Quad Cities, IL-IA News Weather Sports

Update: Roads nearly completely covered

By: CBS4 News, newsroom@cbs4qc.com

Update: The Iowa and Illinois state patrol tells CBS4 News, roads are either partially or completely covered.  They say if at all possible stay off the roads tonight as the snow continues to fall.  They also tell us, luckily there have been no major accidents.

A number of schools in the QCA are either starting late Friday or have canceled altogether.  For a full list of closings and cancellations click on the banner on our home page.

For a live look at road conditions in Iowa click here.  For Illinois, click here.

Previous Story: (AP) _ Officials say road conditions are rapidly deteriorating in parts of Iowa as a major winter storm moves in.

The state Department of Transportation says strong winds from the east have reduced visibility Thursday afternoon to a quarter to half mile in southern and central Iowa, especially in open areas.

Officials say the snow is moderate, but will intensify in the next few hours. Most roads in southwest and south central Iowa are partially covered in snow or mostly covered.

The National Weather Service says up to nine inches of snow are expected in central Iowa.  In Nebraska, between 2 and 5 inches of snow has been reported in the eastern part of the state. Forecasters are predicting another 2 to 4 inches in that region later Thursday into early Friday.