The latest local news, weather and high school sports in and around Columbia and Jefferson City

(AP) -- A blizzard warning for southeast Missouri has been cancelled about 4 hours before it was scheduled to expire after a winter storm dumped several inches of snow in the state's Bootheel.

The National Weather Service in Paducah, Ky., says snowfall in Missouri through Wednesday morning ranged from 3 1/2 inches to 9 1/2 inches, with the heaviest accumulations in the Sikeston area.

A meteorologist in Springfield says the storm slid farther south than initially anticipated and spared most of the Ozarks from significant snowfall.

Missouri State Highway Patrol spokesman Clark Parrott says drivers apparently heeded warnings from the patrol and Department of Transportation to stay off the roads. Troopers didn't investigate many accidents caused by the weather.

Ameren Missouri was reporting about 2,600 customers without electricity as of mid-morning.

(Copyright ©2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)