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SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) - You may have heard of the phenomenon known as "thundersnow." But have you ever heard of "thundersleet?"

Springfield radio station KTTS reports that's a problem now in southwest Missouri, where the winter storm that's dumping huge amounts of snow in the north is bringing sleet and ice to the south.

In "thundersnow" events, thunderstorms form higher in the atmosphere where temperatures are warmer. That rain turns to snow before reaching the ground, with the above thunderstorm pushing the precipitation down with extra intensity.

Today, that precipitation is becoming sleet across portions of southwest Missouri, and it's causing concerns about collecting on power lines.

So far, only a handful of power outages have been reported.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has declared a state of emergency in response to a winter storm sweeping across the state.

Nixon said Thursday that the State Emergency Operations Center has been activated. The declaration also allows state agencies to coordinate directly with cities and counties to provide emergency services.

The governor issued the declaration from his office in the Capitol, where he was one of only a few people actually in the building. The House and Senate canceled their sessions Thursday, and most of their offices were closed.

A lone tour guide staffed a Capitol reception desk, but no one had braved the snow to visit the Capitol.

COLUMBUS, Kan. (AP) - A southeast Kansas man was sentenced to five years in prison for selling a drug that led to another man's overdose death.

Thirty-five-year-old David Tirrell of Scammon was sentenced Wednesday in Cherokee County for involuntary manslaughter. He pleaded guilty in January in the July 2012 death of 22-year-old Jordan Krokroskia, of Baxter Springs. He was initially charged with felony murder. The Joplin Globe reports (http://bit.ly/W5HCXC ) Krokroskia, a student at Missouri Southern State University in Joplin, died of a drug overdose.

Tirrell admitted in January that he sold a Fentanyl patch to Krokroskia, who was found dead at his home. An autopsy showed he died from Fentanyl intoxication. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid roughly 100 times more powerful than morphine.