Blizzard conditions bear down on central U.S., closing schools and highways
A “highly impactful” winter storm delivered a punch to the country’s midsection on Monday, with blizzard conditions dumping as much as a foot or more of snow and shutting down schools and highways in several Midwest states.
OMAHA, Neb. — A “highly impactful” winter storm delivered a punch to the country’s midsection on Monday, with blizzard conditions dumping as much as a foot or more of snow and shutting down schools and highways in several Midwest states.
Through Tuesday, snow as deep as 8 to 12 inches could blanket a broad area stretching from southeastern Colorado all the way to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, including western Kansas, eastern Nebraska, large parts of Iowa, northern Missouri and northwestern Illinois, said Bob Oravec, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland.
“So a very, very highly impactful event coming forward,” Oravec said.
There were widespread school closures across Nebraska and Kansas on Monday ahead of the storm, where forecasters predicted 5 to 8 inches of snow. The school district that includes Nebraska’s capital, Lincoln, told students to stay home. Lines were long Sunday at a Target Store drive-up in Omaha as residents stocked up on milk, bread and booze ahead of the storm.
Satellite view of the weather system in the Upper Mississippi Valley area, on Jan. 8, 2024.NOAAWhiteout conditions in central Nebraska closed a long stretch of Interstate 80. Kansas closed Interstate 70 from the central city of Russell all the way to the Colorado border due to dangerous travel conditions, as well as many secondary roads in northwestern Kansas. Several vehicles slid off I-70 in the northeastern part of the state.
Rating: 5