The midsection of the U.S. took a beating on Thursday, April 18 and all of it came from the raging fury of Nature herself, with snow pummeling the northern regions, the Plains getting walloped by tornadoes, torrential downpours in many states and even a huge sinkhole in Chicago.

No reports of deaths related to the radical area storm weather have come in yet, whether in the Midwest or the Plains, but it appears that almost every community in the middle of the country has been under some kind of warning from storm watches.

"It's a classic spring storm in many ways," Mark Fuchs of the National Weather Service said, as relayed by Associated Press. "There's a wide variety of weather, a big temperature difference."  

The wild disparities in temperature can be seen clearly in St. Louis. On Wednesday, April 17, the temperature rose to 80 degrees, but Thursday saw "strong storms" and it's expected that by Friday temperatures in the city will be down to the 40s.

"Chicago was pummelled by an all-night rainstorm that ripped open a sinkhole large enough to swallow three cars and injuring one driver badly enough that he had to be hospitalized," AP says. "Police spokesman Mike Sullivan said the gaping hole opened up in a street on the city's South Side, near Lake Michigan."

Everything from tornadoes, heavy winds, snow, flash flooding and more have also led to "chaos" among transportation in the Plains and Midwest states, with black ice, frost and various other road obstructions also causing significant problems for area drivers.

"Duluth has already received 24 inches of snow this month, and the additional snowfall could push it past the April record of 31.6 inches set in 1950," AP says.

Have you been stomped by the storms? Let us know about any challenges you've been facing out there, in the comments below!

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