Intense, blowing snow caused multiple vehicles to collide with each other in a pileup along Interstate 80 in the Des Moines, Iowa, area Monday morning.
At least one person was seriously injured and more than 50 vehicles were involved in the crash in westbound lanes of I-80 near Altoona, Iowa. As a result, all westbound lanes were closed for more than an hour after the pileup, which began at about 11 a.m. local time, Iowa State Patrol Sgt. Alex Dinkla told the Associated Press.
Visibility dropped to a 1/4 of a mile and wind gusts up to 30 mph blew the snow around, according to weather.com meteorologist Chris Dolce.
"This was a pretty classic example of a snow squall visibility drop," said Dolce. "Visibility was 10 miles before the crash, only 1/4 of a mile during the crash, and is now back up to 8 miles after the crash."
The sudden drop in visibility coupled with slick conditions created a recipe for disaster.
Emergency crews were on scene responding to the crash, but additional information on injuries was unavailable.
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.
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