Residents across the central US who made it home for Christmas were digging out yesterday after a fierce snowstorm, while those who spent the night in airports and shelters tried to resume their journeys. Meteorologists warned that roads across the region remained dangerous.
Slippery roads were blamed for at least 21 deaths last week as the storm lumbered across the country from the southwest. Ice storm warnings and winter weather advisories were issued for parts of the East Coast on Friday, but the region was largely spared.
The National Weather Service said blizzards would hit parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin through yesterday. The storm had already dumped significant snow across the region, including a record 35cm in Oklahoma City and 28cm in Minnesota on Thursday.
PHOTO: AP
Interstate highways also were closed in North Dakota, Nebraska and Wyoming. Meteorologists warned that massive snow drifts and blustery winds could cause whiteouts across the northern plains.
In Texas, volunteer firefighters and sheriff’s deputies rescued hundreds of people stranded along Interstate 44 and Texas State Highway 287 near Wichita Falls. The area recorded up to 33cm of snow, said Doug Speheger, a National Weather Service meteorologist.
Even residents in the Dallas-Fort Worth area briefly experienced a white Christmas, their first in more than 80 years.
Duluth, Minnesota, was buried under more than 55cm of snow in two days, said Kevin Kraujalis, a National Weather Service meteorologist. By the time the storm is over, it could be one of the 10 worst in Duluth’s recorded history, he said.
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