Ice storms and blizzards pummel the central US a day after Christmas
abcnews.go.comA winter storm is pummeling much of the central United States a day after Christmas
MINNEAPOLIS — From an ice storm in North Dakota that sealed windows shut to blizzard conditions in Colorado causing hundreds of airport delays and cancellations, a winter storm pummeled much of the central United States on Tuesday, the day after Christmas.
“The heavy snow conditions in the Plains should be slowly alleviating today, but it’ll be very slow," said Weather Prediction Center forecaster David Roth. “Even when the snow ends, the high winds should keep visibility near zero — whiteout conditions — for a decent part of today.”
Laura Schmidt-Dockter, a resident of Bismarck, North Dakota, wore ice spikes on her shoes as she walked outside to the trash can. Her driveway was sheer ice, she said. A neighbor took to the street on ice skates.
“It’s actually not bad!” the neighbor quipped about the quality of the ice, skating by Schmidt-Dockter in a video she posted to social media.
At Denver International Airport there were over 530 flight delays and 23 cancellations as of Tuesday afternoon, according to tracking website FlightAware. Blizzard conditions on Colorado's plains closed Interstate 70 eastbound from the outer edge of the Denver area to Kansas. Travelers were also unable to head westbound into Colorado from Kansas on the highway because of the threat posed by high winds.
According to the National Weather Service, it's considered a blizzard when winds exceed 35 miles per hour (56 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,
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