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Rain, hail, snow, winds belt parts of U.S.

CHICAGO, April 6 (UPI) -- A third wave of thunderstorms, packing golf ball- and baseball-size hail and 70-mph winds, belted the Chicago area Tuesday, forecasters said.

Two earlier rounds of storms overnight left about 10,000 Commonwealth Edison customers without power, with about half that number being restored early Tuesday, WGN-TV, Chicago, reported.

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Further west in Utah, snow and icy roads made Tuesday morning's commute treacherous, with more than a dozen crashes, one fatal, reported before dawn, the Salt Lake Tribune reported. The Utah Department of Transportation issued a winter weather alert for an area stretching from the Idaho border in the north to Blanding in southeast Utah.

The Federal Aviation Administration said arriving flights at O'Hare International Airport were delayed up to 45 minutes because of the weather.

Midway Airport officials did not report delays for either arriving or departing flights.

Officials in Chicago suburbs reported strong winds downed power lines and trees, as well as flipped a tractor trailer in the Marengo, Ill., area. The driver wasn't hurt.

AccuWeather.com said the violent thunderstorms erupted in the central Plains states Tuesday as colder air moved into the region and butted against warm, moist air.

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About a half-inch of rain was expected to soak areas from South Dakota eastward to the Great Lakes before the storm system moves on Wednesday, forecasters said.

The threat for severe weather moves eastward through the end of the week, AccuWeather.com said. Strong spring storms were expected to invade the lower Mississippi Valley Wednesday, then strike the Southeast Thursday into Friday.

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