The Latest: Man dies after wreck on icy Oklahoma interstate

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Latest on ice storms in the central U.S. (all times local):

8:15 p.m.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol says a man has died after a wreck on Interstate 40 in western Oklahoma.

The Oklahoman reports that troopers say the wreck happened shortly before 3:30 a.m. Saturday in Custer County and involved three semitrailers and a car. Troopers said the road was icy at the time, but the cause remains under investigation.

Two semitrailers that had been in a crash were jackknifed in the eastbound lanes, about 2 miles west of Weatherford, when a third semitrailer driven by a 45-year-old Oklahoma City man struck them both and then became unable to move.

A car then struck the third semitrailer.

Troopers say the Oklahoma City man died at the scene. The driver of the car and a passenger were taken to a hospital, treated for injuries and released.

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11:30 a.m.

Portions of the central U.S. are grappling with a second day of road-glazing ice, with more of the treacherous, below-freezing wintry weather expected into the weekend.

The storm that began hammering the region Friday pressed into Saturday, slowing traffic and forcing cancellations of sporting events and, in Missouri, prison visitations.

In Oklahoma, the Highway Patrol says Interstate 40 had to be closed in two places in western portions of the state because of wrecks. They included several tractor-trailers jackknifing in icy road conditions in Caddo County.

The National Weather Service says swaths of Kansas and Missouri could see a third band of sleet and freezing drizzle early Sunday and well into that day, with temperatures in many cases remaining near or below freezing.

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11:30 a.m.

Indianapolis public works crews are expected to continue de-icing efforts throughout the weekend.

Officials say Saturday that the de-icing is in response to freezing rain that is expected to fall.

Forty drivers will be activated at 11 p.m. Saturday to cover roadways for any ice accumulation that develops overnight and into Sunday morning. Close attention will be given to bridges, overpasses and main roads.

Additional work crews will be placed on standby.

Winter storms are expected to add thick ice to already slick roads across the nation’s midsection. Freezing rain from one storm slammed the southern Plains and Midwest on Friday.

More freezing precipitation was expected in parts of the nation’s central corridor throughout most of the holiday weekend.

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1:50 a.m.

States across the nation’s midsection are bracing for another round of winter storms expected to add to thick ice that already has glazed roads, grounded flights and prompted class cancellations.

The storm that began hammering the southern Plains and Midwest on Friday dumped freezing rain and was suspected in a fatal wreck in Missouri, where long stretches of freeways were ice-covered.

More freezing precipitation was expected in parts of the nation’s central corridor throughout most of the holiday weekend.

In Kansas, the state’s National Guard was mobilizing in advance of Saturday’s storm, designating roughly 200 guardsmen to patrol key roads and help motorists stranded by icy conditions. The teams of soldiers also were to provide emergency transportation for law enforcers and other emergency responders.