The massive snowstorm working its way across the Midwest is losing steam but is still packing a big punch as it heads east.

Forecasters predict Chicago will be the system's next major target.

At least three deaths have been blamed on the blizzard, and more than a thousand flights have been cancelled. Traffic in some places has slowed to a crawl.

"When it snows like this, it's like there are no traffic laws at all," Bob Reed, from Geneva, Ill., told The Chicago Tribune.

"Normally we have very aggressive drivers, but now we've got people going the wrong way down one-way streets, people jumping out of line to pass you," he said.

This is the second major storm to hit the region within two weeks. The back-to-back storms have raised hopes for easing the drought conditions that have gripped the Midwest for more than a year.