Photos: Blizzard strands thousands of holiday travelers on Sunday in central US
This is the what it looks like to drive on Interstate 70 in the midst of a severe whiteout, shared by the Kansas Highway Patrol on Nov. 25.
A major storm wreaked havoc on one of the busiest travel days of the year with blizzard conditions stretching from northern Kansas to the Lower Peninsula of Michigan.
Temperatures plummeted in a short amount of time, coating the roads with ice as rain changed to snow.
The combination of increasing winds, heavy snow and poor visibility triggered many wrecks and collisions. Parts of I-70 in Kansas and I-80 in Nebraska were closed due to whiteout conditions and snowy roads on Sunday morning.
Airports were swamped with passengers as delays piled up and the storm raged. More than 1,000 flights were canceled at Chicago O'Hare International Airport between Sunday and Monday. Hundreds more were canceled at Midway International Airport.
Numerous power lines were taken down by the heavy snow resulting in nearly 200,000 outages in Illinois alone. Most of the outages were concentrated around Chicago.
Nearly a foot of snow fell in Rockford, Illinois, near the Wisconsin border, according to the National Weather Service.
In La Salle County, west of Chicago, plows were pulled off the road because conditions were too dangerous.
Pedestrians walk as snow falls Sunday, Nov. 25, 2018, in Kansas City, Mo. Blizzard-like conditions have closed highways and delayed air travel as a winter storm moves through the Midwest. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Almost 6 inches of snow fell in Kansas City, Missouri, on Sunday, breaking the daily record from 1895 and going down as the second snowiest November day on record for the city.
Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer declared a state of disaster emergency in response to the dangerous storm.
Winds topped 55 mph at Kansas City International Airport, adding to the intense conditions.
<center><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Winter wonderland West Chicago - street scene, back yard and a tree trying to get in my patio door (ð¶ I hear you knocking, but you can't come in ð¶) <a href="https://twitter.com/NWSChicago?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NWSChicago</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Skilling?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Skilling</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ilwx?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ilwx</a> <a href="https://t.co/egVloUHPgX">pic.twitter.com/egVloUHPgX</a></p>— Mark Gottlieb (@smgottlieb) <a href="https://twitter.com/smgottlieb/status/1066911763894022144?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 26, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<center><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I-90 near Ohare......snow covered and very slick. Had phone mounted on dash and snapped these pics. Don't go out if you don't have to. <a href="https://twitter.com/WGNNews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WGNNews</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/MikeJanssenWX?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MikeJanssenWX</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/NWSChicago?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NWSChicago</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/MikeHamernik?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MikeHamernik</a> <a href="https://t.co/DS3qpkgDj1">pic.twitter.com/DS3qpkgDj1</a></p>— Bill Snyder (@billyweather) <a href="https://twitter.com/billyweather/status/1066926946800541698?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 26, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<center><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Just finished shoveling the snow. By far the heaviest snow I’ve shoveled since the blizzard of 2011. Winds were intense some large branches from our giant elm tree came crashing down near the house. Be safe everyone! Stay indoors if you can. <a href="https://twitter.com/NWSChicago?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NWSChicago</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlizzardOf2018?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BlizzardOf2018</a> ð¨ð¨âï¸âï¸ <a href="https://t.co/HWuGj1sf8S">pic.twitter.com/HWuGj1sf8S</a></p>— Scott Zablocki (@mr_zablocki) <a href="https://twitter.com/mr_zablocki/status/1066927839956660224?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 26, 2018</a></blockquote>
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