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Albert Lea received some of the worst part of a storm system that covered more than two-thirds of the country and brought blizzard conditions in the Upper Midwest.

Schools across the region canceled classes. The interstates remained open, but authorities advised against travel.

KIMT television meteorologist Adam Frederick said with most storms a track of 50 or 100 miles can make a difference in weather. Not with a storm this size.

“I can’t remember seeing anything quite this large,” he said.

Frederick has been studying weather for more than 20 years. On Wednesday, he predicted schools would begin canceling during prime-time broadcasting hours. He was correct.

“The traditional thing is once the first couple of schools cancel, then they go like dominoes,” Frederick said.

The Albert Lea, Alden-Conger, United South Central, Glenville-Emmons, New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva, Blue Earth, Rochester, Austin and Blooming Prairie school districts canceled classes for Wednesday, among others in Minnesota.

Many districts across Iowa also canceled, including Lake Mills, Northwood-Kensett, St. Ansgar, Forest City, Charles City, Garner-Hayfield and Mason City.

St. Theodore Catholic School in Albert Lea and Hollandale Christian School did not have classes. Riverland Community College, Waldorf College and Minnesota State University, Mankato, dropped classes for today.

The Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce was closed on Wednesday, too. So were the Albert Lea Senior Center and Albert Lea Public Library.

As of 6:30 a.m. today, this storm had brought 8 1/2 inches of snow have fallen on Albert Lea. The snowstorm created drifts of 3 or 4 feet.

The lot at Love’s Travel Stop at Exit 11 of Interstate 35 was already full at midnight when overnight manager Denise Mielke began her shift. Even so, more squeezed into the lot. The truckers, many wanting to go south, waited for conditions in Iowa to clear.

“The truckers say we are all crazy for living in Minnesota,” Mielke said.

The snowstorm, she said, was worse than some of the others she has seen.

“It wasn’t nice. Very cold and windy.”

Four big rigs just before 11 p.m. Tuesday went into the ditch near milepost 19 of northbound I-35 — a mile north of the Clarks Grove exit. Chief Deputy Gene Arnold of the Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office said the semis will be pulled out after the snowstorm passes. He said many automobiles were stuck around the region. He asked people not to travel.

As of 5 a.m., Eau Claire, Wis, was reporting the most snowfall in the greater Twin Cities region, with 11 inches. Red Wing had 7 inches as of 6:21 a.m.

The temperature in Albert Lea as of 6:30 a.m. today was 12 degrees, with a wind speed of 21 degrees. The fastest the wind became overnight was 29 mph at 2 p.m., with gusts up to 40. Blizzard conditions are defined as snowing with 35 mph gusts, usually for at least three hours

Forecasters said the Albert Lea area should get about 14 inches of snow by Wednesday afternoon while Rochester is expected to see 16 inches.

MnDOT communications director Kevin Gutknecht said motorists were able to navigate the main streets in the Twin Cities metro area early Wednesday.

The Minnesota State Patrol handled hundreds of traffic crashes through Tuesday night, but there were no reports of serious injuries.

Minnesota Management and Budget commissioner Tom Hanson delayed the opening of state offices until 10 a.m. Wednesday in 13 counties, including Chippewa, Cottonwood, Jackson, Lac qui Parle, Lincoln, Lyon, Murray, Nobles, Pipestone, Redwood, Renville, Rock and Yellow Medicine.

The blizzard warning for the Albert Lea area is large, too. It actually covers a range of northeast Kansas, eastern Nebraska, the southeast tip of South Dakota, all of Iowa, northern Missouri, southern Minnesota, most of Wisconsin and northwest Illinois. The portion in Minnesota goes on a line from Worthington to Red Wing and parts south.

The McDonald’s in downtown Albert Lea was packed this morning. Breakfast manager Rachael Hill said a 3-foot drift in the drive-through sent customers inside the restaurant. She said Main Street wasn’t plowed at 4:30 a.m. when she began her shift.

Another reason the place was filled, she said, is people enjoy getting together for coffee when weather strikes.

More than a foot of snow was expected in parts of Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa, where the National Weather Service warned of “extremely dangerous blizzard conditions” and near whiteout driving conditions. Wind gusts of up to 50 mph could build snow drifts between 8 and 15 feet tall.

Parts of New England also girded themselves for bone-chilling wind gusts and snow accumulations of up to a foot by the end of the day.

“It’s horrible out there,” said Todd Lane, an assistant manager of a Quik Trip convenience store in Des Moines, where several inches of new snow was reported overnight.

Although business was fairly normal overnight, it nearly all came from snow plow drivers — most looking for coffee and energy drinks, he said.

“Outside of the city there’s 15-foot drifts and people are stuck in them,” Lane said the drivers told him. “It sucks and it just keeps on coming.”

Between 4 and 6 inches of snow fell in western and central Michigan, while blizzard warnings also covered parts of Nebraska, Kansas and Minnesota.

“For the most part, we’re telling people to stay home,” said Roger Vachalek, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Des Moines. He said if motorists get stranded, “you might end up being out there for quite a while.”

In the West, pounded by rain and snow earlier this week, bitter wind chills as low as 40 below were sweeping across portions of southern Montana. The biting winds also were moving across Wyoming and South Dakota, according to the National Weather Service.

By the time the storm moves off the Maine coast Thursday night, it may have affected as much as two-thirds of the country, said Jim Lee, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Des Moines.

“It’s a monster of a storm,” Lee said.

And it continues through today. The National Weather Service says the temperature in Albert Lea will drop to 4 degrees by 5 p.m., with wind chill values today of minus 13 to minus 19. The forecast says the northwest wind will be between 25 and 33 mph, with gusts up to 43. It says Albert Lea should get another 2 to 4 inches of snow.

A blizzard warning remains in effect for the region through today until midnight. Strong winds will continue into the night, with an overnight low of minus 7. The night wind will be between 14 and 23 mph, with gusts of up to 32.

The forecast says Thursday will be mostly sunny, with a high of 7 degrees and a west wind between 13 and 16 mph.