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A massive blizzard delivered a White Christmas for those living in the northern Great Plains. Now, the storm is creating a travel nightmare as people prepare to head home after the holiday.
Over 720,000 people in South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Colorado are under blizzard warnings through Tuesday (December 26). In North Dakota, the National Weather Service has issued an ice storm warning across the eastern part of the state.
"Heavy snow continues this morning under a deep upper-low as a long fetch of moisture moves northward ahead of a cold front pushing eastward towards the East Coast and wraps back around a surface low over the central Plains. The snow is expected to continue through Tuesday evening, gradually tapering off Tuesday night through early Wednesday. The highest additional totals of around 2-4", locally 8", are expected across western South Dakota, western Nebraska, far eastern Wyoming, and northeastern Colorado, with some lighter snow into the Middle Missouri Valley," the National Weather Service said.
"In addition, strong winds gusting upwards of 55 mph will lead to blizzard conditions. The combination of heavy snow rates and white-out conditions will make travel difficult to impossible. A significant freezing rain event also continues from portions of northern/eastern South Dakota into southern/eastern North Dakota. Ice accumulations of 0.25 to 0.5", locally 0.75", will lead to potentially significant tree damage and power outages."
Numerous roads and highways across the region were closed due to the heavy snow and icy conditions as officials urged people to stay home until the conditions improved.