WASHINGTON − The nation's capital was digging out Wednesday after a winter storm slammed parts of the region with a foot of snow while a second storm was poised to begin an assault on the Midwest before rolling east.

A snowstorm blew into the mid-Atlantic states on Tuesday, causing dozens of accidents on icy roads, prompting school closures and stoking worries about possible power outages.

A powerful and deadly winter storm that slammed the Plains and Midwest with heavy snow and ice on Wednesday has shifted to the Northeast and New England, dumping a wintry mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain.