Schools and businesses remained closed or opened late Thursday as much of the Midwest was gripped by arctic cold.
The temperature dropped to 3 degrees at Kansas City International Airport and the wind chill was -17 just before 8 a.m. CST, the National Weather Service reported.
Nearly 6,000 customers were without electricity in Olathe and Overland Park, Kansas, the Kansas City Star reported. School districts closed schools because of the frigid temperatures.
Police in Omaha, Nebraska, said an elderly man was found dead from exposure to the cold in the city, KETV reported.
An Iowa State Trooper working the scene of a jackknifed tractor-trailer on Interstate 80 near Newton, Iowa, was injured when a second semi hit the first, KCCI reported. The trooper was hospitalized with moderate injuries. KCCI reported many trucks and cars had slid off I-80 between Des Moines and Newton.
More than 170 Iowa schools closed or delayed classes because of the cold and icy roads.
On Wednesday, at least 17 students were injured when a school bus went off a snowy highway near Emporia, Kansas, on Wednesday morning, according to the Kansas Highway Patrol. All sustained minor injuries.
The incident happened about 14 miles south of Emporia on the Kansas Turnpike.
A school bus went off the road and ended up on its side in snowy conditions near Emporia, Kansas, on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2020.
"At the time, the roads were a little slushy – we do a good job of keeping those roads as clean as we can, but we can't really beat Mother Nature all the time," KHP Lt. Dave Hundley told The Weather Channel.
About 2 inches of snow had fallen in the area, according to the National Weather Service.
The storm has been named Winter Storm Mabel by The Weather Channel.
A mobile Doppler radar unit carrying a storm research crew from the National Weather Service and NOAA got stuck in a ditch when visibility dropped to zero near Grand Forks, North Dakota, Wednesday morning, KFGO.com reported.
Vince Goden, a meteorologist with the NWS, said the unit was sent from Oklahoma to study the winter storm. But the weather moved in "a little sooner" than expected and the team got stranded.
Interstate 29 was closed in both directions in North Dakota at 9 a.m. local time Wednesday, according to the North Dakota Highway Patrol. The road was completely reopened around 2 p.m.
The North Dakota Department of Transportation had issued a no-travel advisory for much of eastern North Dakota due to near-zero visibility caused by blowing and drifting snow.
Earlier, the highway patrol posted that troopers were responding to numerous accidents.
@NDHighwayPatrol Troopers are working multiple incidents like this along I-29 & I-94 in Cass, Traill & Grand Forks Counties. Vehicles have lost sight of the road & driven into the ditch. The storm will blow over later today. Don’t travel until then.#NDHP294
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Video showed little to no visibility in the Fargo area early Wednesday morning.
This is the visibility we’re dealing with today outside of Fargo. Pictures don’t do it justice to how bad it is, but in the center of the frame is @TrooperGabe and he’s only about 50 yards ahead. Slow rolling today! Let’s all get there safe or don’t go at all. #NDHP250
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Authorities were also advising travelers to stay off the roads in Northwest Minnesota.
Dozens of school districts were either closed or dismissing early in the Dakotas and Minnesota, including Fargo Public Schools. North Dakota State University was also shut down, as well as Minnesota State Community and Technical College campuses in Moorhead and Fergus Falls, Minnesota. South Dakota State University canceled classes after 5 p.m.
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.
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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