Ice storms and blizzards pummel the central US on the day after Christmas

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — From an ice storm in North Dakota that is sealing windows shut, to blizzard conditions in Colorado that caused scores 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. Even when the snow ends, the high winds should keep visibility near zero — whiteout conditions — for a decent part of today,” said Weather Prediction Center Forecaster David Roth.

Laura Schmidt-Dockter wore ice spikes on her shoes as she walked outside to the trash can in Bismarck, North Dakota. Her driveway was sheer ice, she said. A neighbor took to the street on ice skates. “It’s actually not bad,” the neighbor quipped as he skated by, in a short video that Schmidt-Dockter posted to social media.

At Denver International Airport, there were 200 delays and 18 cancellations as of midday Tuesday, according to the tracking website FlightAware. Blizzard conditions on Interstate 70, from Denver to Kansas, closed the highway early Tuesday but it reopened later in the morning.

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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.

According to the National Weather Service, a blizzard is when winds exceed 35 miles per hour (56 kilometers per hour) with considerable blowing of snow and visibility of less than 1/4 mile (0.4 kilometers) for three or more hours.

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 86-year-old Evelyn Reece of Wichita.

The same day, winds gusted to 67 miles per hour (108 kilometers per hour) in Oakes, North Dakota, said National Weather Service Meteorologist Megan Jones.

The ice storm has impacted highways throughout eastern North Dakota, with Interstate 29 from Grand Forks to the Canadian border closed until Tuesday afternoon, and no travel advised in south-central parts of the state.

Freezing rain began in Fargo on Monday afternoon and expanded westward, Jones said, and as much as three-quarters of an inch of freezing rain fell in Jamestown. Heavy icing and strong winds led to downed tree branches and power outages in the southern James River Valley.

No major power outages were reported. Still, the weather service reminded people about the fire risk from candles or space heaters. Anyone using a portable generator should keep it outside and at least 20 feet (6 meters) away from doors, windows and garages to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning.

“We just want people to be careful if they have power outages,” Jones said. “You always want to be careful with your heat sources.”

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Associated Press writers Heather Hollingsworth in Mission, Kansas, and Jack Dura in Bismarck, North Dakota, contributed to this report.

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Trisha Ahmed is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @TrishaAhmed15