A major winter storm swept through parts of the US Midwest on Sunday, dumping more than 30 cm of snow in the Chicago area before tracking toward New England, closing schools throughout the US Midwest and east.

Chicago Public Schools, the third-largest public school system in the country, along with districts in Detroit, Boston and Providence, Rhode Island, canceled classes for Monday as the National Weather Service issued storm warnings and watches continued from western Iowa into upper New England.

"Now we are worried about the winds, with blizzard warnings and near whiteout conditions," said Amy Seeley, a meteorologist with the US National Weather Service in Chicago.