North Dakota Ice Storms, Colorado’s Blizzards: Extreme Weather Pummels Central US, Disrupts Flights

After an ice storm, shut down roads and sealed windows in North Dakota. Colorado is now hit with severe blizzards, shutting down airports and delaying or canceling hundreds of flights the day after Christmas.

Weather forecaster David Roth said, “The heavy snow conditions in the Plains should be slowly alleviating today, but it’ll be very slow. Even when the snow ends, the high winds should keep visibility near zero – whiteout conditions – for a decent part of today.”

According to the National Weather Service, “it’s considered a blizzard when winds exceed 35 miles per hour (36 kilometers per hour) for three hours or more, with considerable blowing snow and visibility down to less than a quarter-mile (0.4 kilometers). Blizzard warnings were in effect mid-Tuesday for western portions of South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas, along with eastern portions of Colorado and Wyoming. Ice storm warnings and winter weather advisories remained in place in South Dakota, North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota.”

As per the Office of Emergency Management, “On Christmas Day, one person was killed, and three others were injured in Kansas, when the driver of a pickup truck lost control on snow and ice and collided head-on with a sport utility vehicle 5 miles (8 kilometers) west of Larned, according to the State Patrol. The woman killed in the crash was identified as Evelyn Reece, 86, of Wichita. We have multiple resources being dispatched to rescue a total of 13 people who ignored the advisory and then rescue the ranchers who got stuck trying to get to them.”