During the busy holiday week, a winter storm with heavy snow, freezing rain, and strong winds made driving dangerous across the Plains and upper Midwest.
The storm’s strong wind gusts on Monday and Tuesday—sometimes 50 to 60 mph, and in some places up to 75 mph—caused blizzards and made driving “difficult to nearly impossible,” according to the National Weather Service.
Some parts of Nebraska, South Dakota, Kansas, Colorado, and Wyoming were warned of blizzards on Monday and Tuesday. Blizzards happen when strong winds and blowing snow last for at least three hours and make it impossible to see more than a quarter mile ahead.
Because it was so dark, a big stretch of highway in western Nebraska was closed on Tuesday night. The Nebraska State Patrol said that westbound Interstate 80 and Highway 30 were closed from Lexington, in the middle of the state, to the Colorado and Wyoming state lines, a distance of more than 200 miles. This was because of dangerous travel conditions and services being full in many places. Also, roads going east were closed from Wyoming to North Platte, which is 179 miles away.
The National Weather Service says that parts of South Dakota got at least a foot of snow. In Gregory, it was 13.8 inches, and in Deadwood and Spearfish, it was 12 inches. The weather service said that 7.5 inches of snow fell in Aurora, Colorado, and 7 inches fell in Norfolk, Nebraska.
“Travel problems are likely to happen all over the region,” the weather service said. People in the area were told not to drive, but if they had to, they were told to bring survival kits and stay in their cars in case they got lost.
Read More: Iran’s Oil Minister Says Gas Stations Have Been Hacked
It was going to stop being a blizzard or ice storm in the Central and Northern Plains late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning. It might still snow lightly to moderately in some places through early Wednesday morning. It might also rain or freeze.
The Midwest will no longer be getting snow by the end of the day, the Northern Plains will no longer be getting freezing rain, and the Appalachians will no longer be at risk of too much rain.
Parts of the I-95 region in the northern Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast have a level 1 of 4 chance of getting too much rain on Wednesday. There is a risk of flooding in Washington, DC, Philadelphia, and New York City, among other big towns. Some big cities in the Northeast may have trouble with travel and flights on Wednesday.
It Was White For Christmas, I Said
Bradley Sanders, a traveler, told CNN that he was on his way from Denver to Chicago on Tuesday when the storm hit. Around noon, he stopped near Ogallala, Nebraska, to charge his car. Soon after, he found out that the highway was closed, so he made reservations at a hotel for the night. He said there was a long line of drivers who were stuck at the hotel trying to find a room.
CNN spoke to Amanda Dawn Benitez on Tuesday and said that she was also stuck in Ogallala. She was taking a trip with her husband, son, and 2-pound dog from Twin Falls, Idaho, to McDonough, Georgia. Her husband drives a truck, so they’ve been making the trip in his 18-wheeler. They plan to stay there Tuesday night. She said she’s never seen so much snow in her life. Benitez is from Alabama.
“She said I didn’t want a blizzard, but I did want a white Christmas.” Benitez said that her son and dog are having fun playing in the snow.
On Tuesday, ice replaced snow as the major winter weather threat in some places.
In some parts of the northern Plains and upper Midwest on Tuesday, a mix of sleet and freezing rain could knock out power and make roads and sidewalks very dangerously icy. Parts of the Dakotas and Minnesota were warned of an ice storm until Tuesday evening.
The state’s Department of Transportation said Tuesday that people in 14 North Dakota counties should not drive at all because the roads are not in good shape for winter driving. About 50 miles of westbound I-94 in the state were closed on Tuesday morning because of “multiple traffic incidents.”
The weather service said Tuesday that ice storms in the Dakotas caused freezing rain. In Verona, North Dakota, an inch of freezing rain fell.
It was thought that the storm would weaken over the central US on Tuesday night and lose most of its strength early Wednesday. There may still be a few snow showers or a mix of rain and wet snow on the Plains, but the bad weather will stop by midweek.
From Christmas Day on, there were accidents and road closures.
Monday was the start of terrible weather in parts of the central US, as the storm dumped a dangerous mix of snow, ice, and strong winds.
People crashed into each other and cars went off the roads in Nebraska on Monday. In the morning and early afternoon, tractor-trailers jackknifed and got stuck on eastbound Interstate 80 near York, according to the Nebraska State Patrol.
In the north, the Dakotas were hit with a lot of snow. The South Dakota Department of Transportation said that I-90 was closed in both ways between Mitchell and Wall for more than 200 miles from Monday night to Tuesday morning.
They also shut down the eastbound roads between Wall and Rapid City, which is about 50 miles away. The lanes going west were supposed to stay open on Tuesday “unless the weather and road conditions change.”
“Drivers shouldn’t use secondary highways to get around when Interstates are closed.” “Traveling will be very dangerous during this storm system because visibility will be greatly reduced and conditions will be like a blizzard,” the department said.
The South Dakota Highway Patrol said they were called to several accidents in Watertown because of the ice and snow on the roads.
It’s important that you don’t speed up, use cruise control, or forget to buckle up. The South Dakota Highway Patrol asked people to “please give them room to work” since snow plows were out.
Alaa Elassar, Sharif Paget, Andy Rose, Jamiel Lynch, and Dave Alsup all worked on this story with aid from CNN meteorologist Robert Shackelford.
What do you say about this story? Visit Parhlo World For more.
