STORM BRINGS HEAVY SNOW AND ICE TO UPPER MIDWEST
People warned to stay off the roads across seven states
DES MOINES, Iowa
A strong winter storm made its way across the Upper Midwest on Tuesday, creating treacherous travel conditions, spurring warnings urging people to stay off the roads and closing coronavirus testing sites.
The National Weather Service issued winter storm warnings for parts of Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Illinois.
Snow was so heavy in western Nebraska Tuesday morning that Interstates 80 and 76 were closed for several hours in both directions after numerous accidents, and the Nebraska Department of Transportation warned people to avoid unnecessary travel.
By 4 p.m. Tuesday, the storm had mostly moved out of Nebraska. The Nebraska State Patrol said troopers responded to more than 150 weather-related incidents, including 129 motorist assists.
Many government buildings and properties closed ahead of the storm, including COVID-19 testing sites in Norfolk, O’Neill, Nebraska City, Beatrice, Bassett and Auburn. Planned testing sites in Nebraska City, Cozad, York and Valentine will not open today. State officials urged Nebraskans to continue registering for testing, which is expected to resume Thursday.
Heavy snowfall of up to a foot, and perhaps more in some spots, was forecast in parts of Iowa, where the state Department of Transportation urged people to delay travel plans. The department’s road conditions map showed most highways in the western part of the state covered or partly covered with snow by midday Tuesday.
“Travel conditions are likely to go downhill all day/ night,” the Iowa department said on Twitter. “If you must travel in the impacted areas, buckle up, slow down and allow plenty of space between vehicles.”
Earlier Tuesday, snowfall was heavy, causing visibility problems for motorists and rapidly deteriorating road conditions, Iowa State Patrol spokesman Sgt. Alex Dinkla said. He added that crashes were happening across the state with heavy post-Christmas travel.
“All our troopers are very busy right now covering crashes all over Iowa. Road conditions are very dangerous,” he said.
AccuWeather said parts of southeast Nebraska, northeast Kansas, northern Missouri and southern Iowa could see ice accumulations of up to a quarter of an inch, which could weigh down power lines and branches and cause power outages.
In Topeka, morning snow gave way to freezing rain and then rain as the storm moved east.