Ice storms and blizzards pummel the central US a day after Christmas
MINNEAPOLIS– From an ice storm in North Dakota that shuttered windows to snowstorms in Colorado that caused hundreds of delays and cancellations at airports, a winter storm ravaged much of the central United States on Tuesday, the day after Christmas.
“Heavy snow conditions in the Plains should slowly decrease today, but it will be very slow,” said David Roth, forecaster with the Weather Prediction Center. “Even if the snow stops, strong winds should keep visibility near zero – whiteout conditions – for quite a portion of today.”
Laura Schmidt-Dockter, a resident of Bismarck, North Dakota, wore ice spikes on her shoes as she walked outside to the trash can. Her driveway was pure ice, she said. A neighbor went into the street on skates.
“It's actually not bad!” the neighbor joked about the quality of the ice skating by Schmidt-Dockter in a video she posted on social media.
There were more than 530 flight delays and 23 cancellations at Denver International Airport as of Tuesday afternoon, according to tracking website FlightAware. Blizzard conditions on the Colorado plains closed Interstate 70 eastbound from the outer edge of the Denver area into Kansas. Travelers were also unable to travel west into Colorado from Kansas on the highway due to the threat of high winds.
According to the National Weather Service, it is considered a snowstorm when winds exceed 35 miles per hour (56 kilometers per hour) for three hours or more, with significant blowing snow and visibility down to less than a quarter mile (0.4 kilometers). ).
Blizzard warnings were in effect by mid-Tuesday for western parts of South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas, along with eastern parts of Colorado and Wyoming. Ice storm warnings and winter weather warnings remained in effect in South Dakota, North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota.
One person was killed and three others were injured on Christmas Day in Kansas when the driver of a pickup truck lost control on snow and ice and collided head-on with an SUV five miles west of Larned. to the State Police. The woman killed in the crash was identified as Evelyn Reece, 86, of Wichita.
Officials with the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South Dakota said on social media that some people had ignored Monday night's travel ban. The advisory meant no one should have been on highways or secondary roads due to the whiteout, they said.
“We deployed multiple resources to rescue a total of thirteen people who ignored the advisory, and then rescue the ranchers who became trapped trying to reach them,” the tribe's Office of Emergency Management posted early Tuesday on Facebook. Nine hours later, the office provided an update saying the motorists were safe “and all is well.”
Badlands National Park and the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site in South Dakota were closed Tuesday due to the severe weather.
On Monday, gusts of up to 68 miles per hour were howling in Oakes, North Dakota, said Megan Jones, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
The ice storm has hit highways in eastern parts of the state, with Interstate 29 from Grand Forks to the Canadian border closed until Tuesday afternoon and no travel advised in south-central parts of the state. The freezing rain started in Fargo Monday afternoon and spread westward, Jones said, with as much as a half inch of freezing rain falling in Jamestown.
Heavy icing and strong winds have downed tree limbs and caused power outages in the southern James River Valley.
No major disruptions have been reported. Still, the weather service reminded people of the risk of fire caused by candles or space heaters. Anyone using a portable generator should keep it outdoors and at least 20 feet away from doors, windows and garages to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning.
“We just want people to be careful when the power goes out,” Jones said. “You always want to be careful with your heat sources.”
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Associated Press writers Heather Hollingsworth in Mission, Kansas, and Jack Dura in Bismarck, North Dakota, contributed to this report.
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Trisha Ahmed is a staff member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @TrishaAhmed15