At a Glance
- Drivers in North Dakota were told to stay off the roads.
- Portions of Interstate 94 and Interstate 29 were closed.
- The North Dakota Highway Patrol said they had helped at least 50 stranded vehicles.
- A man died after a crash on icy road in Nebraska.
The National Guard and other emergency resources were put on alert Friday in North Dakota amid a crippling snowstorm that is bringing high winds and drifting snow to parts of the Northern Plains.
The storm has pummeled several states. Authorities said a 20-year-old Nebraska man died Thursday night when he lost control of his vehicle on an icy highway near Chadron, in northwestern Nebraska, radio station KNEB reported. The vehicle rolled over. The man, identified as Adam Hawk, was pronounced dead at the scene. Two passengers in the vehicle were injured.
Portions of at least two interstate highways in North Dakotoa were shut down Friday as officials warned people to stay home and avoid all non-emergency travel. I-94 was closed westbound from Bismarck to Fargo, and eastbound from Bismarck to Valley City, according to the North Dakota Highway Patrol. I-29 was closed in both directions between Grand Forks and the Canadian border. A portion of U.S. Highway 2 was also closed.
The roads could remain closed until Sunday because crews will need time to clear the snow and ice once the storm passes, NDHP Sgt. Luke Hendrickson told weather.com late Friday afternoon.
"Right now the roadways are closed for the foreseeable future," Hendrickson. "All the roadways are extremely covered with ice and compacted snow. Visibility is at times a quarter-mile to zero."
(MORE: Blizzard Conditions Expected as Snowstorm Moves Into Northern Plains)
The NDHP assisted dozens of motorists stranded near Jamestown after I-94 was closed. Forty-two passengers were evacuated from a bus that broke down in the hazardous conditions.
"In one case we had a charter bus that had some mechanical issues and people were stranded and we used snowplows and other buses to get to those people and bring them back to Jamestown," Hendrickson said.
Between 50 and 100 cars were stuck for hours due to three trucks that had jackknifed on the slippery roadway. Hendrickson said snowplows cleared one lane of the road so the cars could get off the interstate. There were no immediate reports of accidents or injuries.
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum activated the state's emergency plan, which puts the National Guard and other resources on standby, the Associated Press reported.
"The extraordinary intensity of this early winter storm threatens to test the limits of local response capabilities across a large portion of our state," Burgum said.
Farmers were bracing for losses from the snowstorm, which has been named Winter Storm Aubrey by The Weather Channel.
"I'm expecting massive crop losses – as devastating as we've even seen," Jon Nelson, a state lawmaker who farms several hundred acres near Rugby in north-central North Dakota, told the AP.
"A lot of the standing stuff is flattened to the ground. It's shot and some guys are putting their combines away and won't bring them out again."
Erika Kenner, a rancher in Leeds, worried about her family's herd of several hundred cows. The deep, drifting snow kept her from checking on them.
"I just hear the wind howling and think of those poor cows out there," Kenner said. "Cattle are tough but this kind of weather just wears on them."
The weather also hampered the search for a small plane that went missing after it left the airport in Aberdeen, South Dakota, Wednesday night and failed to show up at its destination in Oakes, North Dakota, the AP reported. The pilot was the only person on board, according to KFGO.
Videos and photos posted to social media showed heavy snow throughout the region Friday morning.
On Thursday, the frigid storm made morning commutes treacherous and schools, government offices and businesses closed or opened late.
Drivers in Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, the Dakotas, Colorado and Nebraska found dozens of roads closed by snow and accidents.
At least three separate crashes involving more than 20 cars shut down northbound Interstate 25 on Thursday between Monument and Castle Rock, Colorado.
Crashes blocked lanes on I-70 and I-76 in Denver. Police said 193 crashes were reported in the city between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Thursday. The Aurora Police Department reported 110 crashes, according to Fox 31 News.
"We can do this – everyone take some calming breaths, slow down, turn your lights & wipers on and we can all get to where we’re going safely," the Denver Police Department tweeted.
About 40 miles north of Denver, multiple crashes were reported on Interstate 25 near Berthoud, Colorado.
More than a dozen highways were closed in northwestern Nebraska after being covered by snow. The city of Chadron, which had received about 6 inches of snow, declared a snow emergency Thursday morning.
At least 95 flights in and out of Denver International Airport were canceled Thursday, according to flightaware.com. Nearly 600 were delayed.
On Wednesday, the storm system led to schools being closed in Spokane, Washington. About 32,000 customers lost power in Washington state Wednesday, the AP also said.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
