At least five people died as ice storms cut power in some parts of the United States, multiple-car wrecks were reported and chilly temperatures and blustery winds forced residents to bundle up.

Drivers blinded by blizzard conditions created a 30-vehicle pile-up on Interstate 94 in western Michigan that killed a 31-year-old man, media reports said, while dozens of vehicles collided in a series of other crashes nearby.

The fierce weather, which coincided with the official arrival of winter on Sunday, was blamed for the deaths of two people in a single-vehicle crash east of Des Moines, in Iowa. Another weather-related death was reported in north-west Iowa.

The nearby state of Minnesota temporarily banned the use of snow ploughs until the storm passed.

The ice made roads slick as far south as Texas, where a 44-year-old grandmother was killed in Dallas when her car slid off a road, local reports said.

The National Weather Service said Bismarck, North Dakota, was on track to break a 1916 record for snowfall in December. The city has received 49cm of snow so far in December and there is more snow on the way.

Canada might see its first countrywide white Christmas since 1971, meteorologists predicted. Environment Canada issued snow warnings across the country and winter storm watches in Northern Ontario.

About 89,000 Nova Scotia Power customers were without power in several parts of the north-eastern province. Several bridges, ferries and parts of the Trans-Canada Highway were closed to traffic while more than 300 flights were cancelled at Toronto's Pearson International Airport.

Temperatures plunged in Canada below freezing.

Travel was treacherous in the US north-western states of Oregon and Washington, with 30 to 61cm of snow expected from today to tomorrow afternoon, the National Weather Service said in its winter storm watch for the region.