BLOOMINGTON - The winter's first storm turned deadly Monday morning when a Bloomington woman lost control of her car and collided with a semitrailer in Logan County and an elderly Mackinaw couple died in a traffic accident near Tremont.

The Bloomington woman, 21, died after losing control of her car on U.S. 136 near Logan County 1250th Avenue, about 6:45 a.m. The car hit an eastbound semi, whose driver refused treatment. The woman's name has not been released pending notification of relatives.

A Mackinaw couple, Harold Cotter, 83, and his wife, Inez, 79, were dead at the scene of a crash at 10:43 a.m. at Illinois 9 and Ropp Road east of Tremont, said Tazewell County Coroner Dennis Conover.

Harold Cotter lost control of his vehicle on snow and ice and hit a westbound SUV driven by Kelly Burmaster, 37, of Mackinaw, who also had a child in her car, said Tazewell County sheriff's police. They were taken to Pekin Memorial Hospital, where no information was available.

Throughout Central Illinois, plows scraped away inches of snow as workers headed back from the long holiday weekend. Many rural schools were closed because of blowing snow.

Intermittent snow-showers continued throughout the day in some areas, while other locations remained relatively untouched.

Preliminary snowfall totals from the National Weather Service, Lincoln, included a high of 7.5 inches five miles west of Bloomington and only 2.1 inches in Lincoln. Other amounts were: Congerville, 7.1; Eureka, 6.4; Stanford, 5.1; Minonk, 5; Roanoke, 6.5; Morton, 4.8; Paxton, 4.5; Fairbury, 2.1; four miles southwest of LeRoy, 5.8; and a mile southeast of Pekin, 3.

Five inches of snow was recorded in Peoria and 3.4 inches in Urbana. Most of those totals were as of 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. Monday when weather observers sent in their recordings.

Slippery spots were blamed for a number of accidents, although most were minor. Bloomington and Normal police both said several accidents were caused by people driving too fast for conditions.

Icy roads were blamed for a Champaign accident that left a woman dead after her car hit a pickup truck and for a four-car accident near Springfield involving a state police trooper.

In DeWitt County, a bus carrying senior citizens slid into a ditch but no one was injured. County road workers said rural roads had limited access, and they suggested staying off roads unless absolutely necessary.

Flights at Central Illinois Regional Airport remained on schedule.