A new storm has swept across the central United States, following an earlier wave of severe weather, tying up air travel and killing at least four people.

A 40-car pile-up on Interstate 40 in northern Texas that killed at least one person was caused by blowing snow that limited visibility and left icy patches, said Wayne Beighle, a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper.

The storm has been blamed for at least three other deaths: two in Texas and one in Oklahoma.

Elsewhere in Texas, firefighters in several counties battled wind-driven bushfires, including an 800 hectare blaze northwest of Fort Worth that was expected to be contained.

The storm was set to pound areas of the Midwest still rebounding from storms earlier in the week that spawned a mix of snow, brutal cold, tornadoes and hail.

More than 600 flights in and out of Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, one of the nation's busiest, were cancelled, and others were delayed an average of two hours.

Flights were also cancelled at some other airports, including Indianapolis, where 15 to 20 centimetres of snow was to predicted to fall.

In the West, searchers found the body of a Colorado man who died on snowmobiling trip in the mountains west of Denver.

John McKibben and two companions got lost during a one-day outing on Sunday. The other two men were rescued on Tuesday but told search crews that McKibben died on Monday night.