A planned boycott of airport security scanners was a bust, but holiday travelers in the western U.S. had to contend with a chaotic mix of snow, sleet and ice.

The powerful storm system closed roads and delayed flights from Anchorage to Salt Lake City, and promised to bring messy wintery weather to much of the Dakotas on Thanksgiving Day. Freezing rain glazed roads across the Midwest, and at least three traffic deaths in Iowa were blamed on the weather.

But the cascading delays and monumental lines that many feared would result at airports from the so-called National Opt-Out Day didn't materialize Wednesday, one of the busiest travel days of the year.

The loosely organized Internet campaign encouraged travelers to protest new security screening by boycotting body scanners that can see through people's clothing and insisting on the more time consuming pat-downs. But few passengers seemed to heed the call.