Travel conditions in the Northern Plains will improve dramatically on Wednesday after a deadly storm that brought blizzards and freezing rain, causing disruptions on major interstates in the central US.
The storm claimed one life in Kansas when an elderly woman was killed in a crash on a snowy state highway on Christmas night.
The driver of a pickup truck heading west on Kansas Highway 156 lost control on the icy road and slid into oncoming traffic, colliding head-on with an eastbound SUV near Larned, according to the Kansas Highway Patrol. An 86-year-old woman who was traveling in the SUV was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said. Three others were hospitalized.
Ice in Merrick County, Nebraska, caused another driver to lose control and the car to roll over several times, authorities said. A child was ejected from the car and was rushed to a trauma center. Five other people in the car were rushed to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to the sheriff.
Snow and high winds forced the Nebraska DOT to close Interstate 80 and Highway 30 from the Wyoming line to Lexington, Nebraska. The state recorded 28 accidents and nearly 150 weather-related incidents on Christmas alone. I-80 was fully open Wednesday morning, but Highway 30 remained closed.
People across the Great Plains experienced a massive snowstorm with frigid temperatures. @WesselsJeff /X
“I still had some accidents in western Nebraska. That’s why we closed the interstate,” Nebraska State Patrol Lt. Kyle Diefenbaugh told FOX Weather on Tuesday. “Mainly due to blowing snow. Wind gusts up to 50 miles per hour blow across the road and form patches of ice. And some of our travelers are simply slowing down and causing accidents. “So we had to close the interstate and try to clean it up.”
The blizzard conditions also led to several other accidents and, at times, more highway and interstate closures in Kansas, Colorado, North Dakota and South Dakota, thanks to blinding snow and high winds.
In addition to the closure of Interstate 80, state transportation officials in Colorado and Kansas temporarily closed Interstate 70 from Goodland, Kansas, west to east of Denver, Colorado, on Tuesday morning due to safety concerns. The interstate has since reopened. Parts of Interstate 90 also had temporary closures during the storm in South Dakota.
Deteriorating conditions at NWS Goodland at 10:15 pm MST Christmas night, Monday, December 25, 2023. Moderate snow and blowing snow. Visibility ~2 miles. Air temperature 23°F. NW wind 29 mph with gusts to 40 mph. Wind chill temperature 6°F. #kswx #vacax #newx pic.twitter.com/f8eg56dxzM
– NWS Goodland (@NWSGoodland) December 26, 2023
So far, snow totals in Nebraska have exceeded 10 inches in a handful of cities. With wind gusts of up to 60mph, as reported in Sydney, drivers faced blackout conditions. The storm’s peak wind gust hit in Rapid City, South Dakota, at 73 mph, just one mph shy of hurricane strength.
“Motorists should not use secondary roads to avoid interstate closures,” South Dakota Department of Transportation officials posted on the agency’s website Monday.
Roads covered by an inch of ice in some areas
In North Dakota, it was not just snow and wind but also freezing rain that forced the North Dakota Highway Patrol to close Interstate 29 from Grand Forks north to the Canadian border on Tuesday, with many roads of the area completely covered with ice. On Wednesday, I-29 was opened from Fargo to the Canadian border, but a travel advisory remains in effect for the Grand Forks and Fargo areas.
Many roads and highways were closed due to the icy conditions. Temperatures are expected to rise after the storm. @WesselsJeff /X
1:25am 12/26/2023: Temperatures have warmed above freezing here in Aberdeen (34 degrees) and the ice on trees is melting a little. Here’s a look at the ice buildup we had here at the office. Total radial ice accumulation is about 0.25″. #SDwx pic.twitter.com/eGXr8BscdF
—NWS Aberdeen (@NWSAberdeen) December 26, 2023
Freezing rain was reported in Fargo, Grand Forks and Bismarck, although the worst of the freezing rain occurred in southeastern North Dakota, where some towns west of Fargo along the Interstate 94 corridor saw up to an inch accumulate. of ice in the last two days.
Trees and power lines were down in Chaffee and cars, including a sheriff’s deputy, were reported trapped in ditches in the town of Ashley. Since then, the threat of freezing rain has decreased.
More snow possible on Wednesday
Blizzard conditions will continue across parts of the Dakotas and Nebraska, where more than 3 additional inches of snow will be possible through Wednesday before winter precipitation finally ends.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn