After dumping nearly 3 feet of snow on the higher elevations of Colorado and Wyoming, a powerful snowstorm pivoted into the upper Midwest overnight, causing dangerous travel conditions for millions on Wednesday morning.

The snowstorm, which has been named Winter Storm Dorothy by The Weather Channel, triggered life-threatening travel conditions in southern Minnesota Wednesday morning. The strong winds prompted authorities to urge drivers to stay off the roads until conditions improve, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported.

Schools sent students home early Tuesday because of the winter storm, and more than two dozen flights were canceled at the Twin Cities' main airport on the busiest pre-Thanksgiving travel day, the report added.

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St. Paul Public Schools and the University of Minnesota were scheduled to have classes Wednesday, but called those off on account of the dangerous conditions, according to the Associated Press.

Elsewhere in the region, spinouts and crashes were common on snow-covered roads, and more than 100,000 homes and businesses were in the dark, according to PowerOutage.us. School districts in northern and western Wisconsin canceled classes after nearly a foot of snow fell overnight.

There were even reports of thundersnow in Iowa as the mighty system blew through.