Below-freezing temperatures, snow and icy roads menaced the U.S. Northern Plains on Monday, (December 26) forcing North Dakota and South Dakota to close major highways and warn people to remain indoors due to a winter storm that also swept across much of the Midwest. Rain and freezing rain also were possible over parts of the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest, where winter weather advisories and winter storm warnings were in effect, the National Weather Service said.
Temperatures between 15 and 25 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 9 to minus 4 degrees Celsius) were expected from the Lower Mississippi Valley to the Great Lakes. Nearly every highway across North Dakota and the western half of South Dakota was shut down on Sunday night, or no travel was advised, the weather service said. Each state's transportation department reported multiple highway closures as of midday Monday. Bismarck, North Dakota's state capital, was hit by some 12.5 inches (32 cm) of snow, creating difficult conditions for those who had to report to jobs on Monday, a holiday for many in the United States. Bismarck resident Jackson MacDonald spent his morning digging out his car.
"I was in a lot of shock. I just thought to myself, how the heck am I getting out of here?," he said. The snow ended as the temperature plunged to 10 degrees F (minus 12 C), with a "real feel" of minus 20 degrees F (minus 29 C), according to AccuWeather.com. Farther south, rain and thunderstorms were expected ahead of a cold front passing through eastern Texas, the Tennessee and Ohio valleys and in the Northeast, the weather service said.
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