About 600 drivers crashed or were stranded in Iowa from Friday into Saturday as a wave of arctic storms swept across the country.
The Iowa State Patrol said it responded to 535 driver assist calls and 86 crashes between 12:30 a.m. Friday and 10 a.m. Saturday.
Miraculously, neither accident resulted in fatal injuries.
Just two days before Monday's Iowa caucuses, some areas of the Hawkeye State were deemed “impassable” due to extremely poor visibility brought on by severe storms. The storm dumped about 20 inches of snow and produced wind gusts as high as 50 mph in some areas. .
About 100 of the reported stranded cars were trapped on Interstate 80 for five hours after a semitrailer jackknifed across a slippery road.
A tractor-trailer that failed to stop on an icy interstate crashed into a state trooper's car near Cedar Rapids, and the rear of the car was snatched under the truck's caboose. Fortunately, both the driver and the police officer walked away without serious injuries. the department said.
The National Weather Service on Saturday afternoon called the situation “life-threatening” and warned it would continue to worsen.
X/@iowastatepatrol/Iowa State Patrol
The difficult situation has already led presidential candidates Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis and former President Donald Trump to reschedule their Iowa caucuses ahead of Monday's highly influential vote. There is.
“Conditions are worsening again this afternoon with the arrival of arctic cold, light snow, and increasing winds. As of noon, many rural areas in central and northern Iowa had low visibility of 4 minutes. It was less than a mile. West of I-35, wind chill values range from -20 to -40.” said the Des Moines-based NWS. Saturday.
The nation's capital is on track to break the record for the second-highest five-day snowfall, set in 1923 with 20.2 inches. The full record is he is 22.7 inches.
Iowa isn't alone in dealing with extreme weather. A massive winter storm is expected to hit the entire continental United States this weekend.
Weather warnings of all types cover all states in the Lower 48, and most are related to winter weather.
with post wire
