While the blizzard subsides, the storm system itself will not. The core of the system will shift east, moving across the Earth's core through Friday. This could lead to locations like St. Louis seeing their first snowfall of the season.
Travel conditions in the northern Plains will improve dramatically Wednesday after a deadly storm brought blizzard conditions and freezing rain, leading to disruptions along major highways in the central United States. Meanwhile, parts of the Midwest will see their first snowfall of the season as the storm moves through. east.
The storm claimed one life in Kansas when an elderly woman died in a crash on a snow-covered highway on Christmas evening.
The driver of a westbound pickup truck on Kansas Highway 156 lost control on the icy road and slid into oncoming traffic, according to the Kansas Highway Patrol. The vehicle collided head-on with an eastbound SUV near Larned. An 86-year-old woman riding in an SUV was pronounced dead at the scene. Three others were taken to hospital.
A complex January forecast shows El Niño, the polar vortex, and snow shortages all taking a toll this winter
Snow fell in Goodland, Kansas, on Tuesday.
(@Brandon_RTWX / X)
Officials said that ice in Merrick County, Nebraska, caused another driver to lose control of the car and the car to roll over several times. A child was removed from the vehicle and taken to a trauma center. Five others in the car were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to Al-Sharif.
Ice caused a rollover accident in Merrick County, Nebraska.
(Merrick County Sheriff's Office/FOX Weather)
Snow and high winds forced the Nebraska Department of Transportation to close Interstate 80 and Interstate 30 from the Wyoming Line to Lexington, Nebraska. The state saw 28 accidents and about 150 weather-related incidents on Christmas alone. I-80 was fully open late Wednesday morning, but Interstate 30 remained closed.
Tractor trailers with knives block parts of I-80 on Christmas.
(Nebraska State Patrol/FOX Weather)
“I'm still getting into some accidents in western Nebraska. That's why we're closing the interstate,” Nebraska State Patrol Lieutenant Kyle Diffenbaugh told FOX Weather on Tuesday. “It's mostly due to blowing snow. Winds up to about 50 miles per hour are blowing across the road and creating icy patches. Some of our travelers are also slowing down and causing wrecks. So we had to close the highway and try to clean those up.”
Blizzard conditions also led to several other crashes and, at times, additional road and highway closures in Kansas, Colorado, North Dakota and South DakotaThanks to blinding snow And strong winds.
In addition to the Interstate 80 closure, 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 highway has since reopened. Portions of Interstate 90 through South Dakota were also temporarily closed during the storm.
So far, snow totals in Nebraska have exceeded 10 inches in a few cities. With wind gusts of up to 60mph, reported in Sydney, drivers faced harsh conditions. The storm's maximum sustained winds in Rapid City, South Dakota, came at 73 mph, near hurricane force.
Roads are covered in inches of ice in some areas
Freezing rain covered trees, grasses and roads with ice in Graceville, Minnesota, for Christmas.
(@carolbauer320 / X / FOX Weather)
In North Dakota, it wasn't just snow and wind, but 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 area roads completely covered in ice. On Wednesday, I-29 reopened from Fargo to the Canadian border, but a travel advisory remained in effect for the Grand Forks and Fargo areas.
Freezing rain was reported in Fargo, Grand Forks and Bismarck. The worst of the freezing rain occurred in southeastern North Dakota, where a few towns west of Fargo along the Interstate 94 corridor saw up to an inch of ice accumulation over the past two days.
Trees and power lines fell in Chaffee, and cars, including a sheriff's deputy, fell into ditches in Ashley Township.
The threat of freezing rain has since subsided.
The season's first flakes fly through the Earth's core
While the blizzard subsides, the storm system will not, according to the FOX Forecast Center.
The core of the system will shift east, moving across the Earth's core through Friday. This could lead to locations like St. Louis seeing their first snowfall of the season.
Heading into Friday and through the weekend, enough cold air could reach Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and Tennessee to cause flakes to fly. Although no travel impacts are expected, they will be noticeable because these locations typically see very little snow throughout the winter.
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