Storm dumping snow on Northern Plains
‘If people don’t need to be traveling, they shouldn’t be’
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Schools called off classes and road crews warned of hazardous conditions Monday as a snowstorm crawled across the Northern Plains, while states farther south worked to recover from a weekend of icy weather and deadly flooding.
Snow made for a messy, slow commute in Minneapolis, while dozens of schools closed for the day because of snow in Iowa, South Dakota and Minnesota. Up to a foot of snow was expected in eastern South Dakota and southwest Minnesota, while smaller amounts were forecast from Nebraska to Wisconsin through Tuesday.
Drivers across the region were dealing with slick, snow-packed roads and reduced visibility, said Todd Heitkamp, a meteorologist with the weather service in Sioux Falls, where police reported more than 70 accidents by midday.
“If people don’t need to be traveling, they shouldn’t be,” Heitkamp said. “Let the road crews do their jobs.”
Sioux Falls was readying its snow clearing equipment, but the steady snowfall was expected to keep crews from plowing the city’s residential neighborhoods until Tuesday. The weather also prompted Northern State University in Aberdeen, about 200 miles northeast, to cancel a women’s basketball game set for Monday night.
Farther south, states were recovering after heavy rain and freezing rain over the Thanksgiving holiday.
Search crews in Texas found a body Monday in the submerged car of a woman who was swept off a bridge by floodwaters three days earlier near Fort Worth. Eight people died from the flooding in Texas over the past few days.