Freezing fog and snow create hazardous morning commute in Midwest

Several inches of snow fell across the Midwest Wednesday night into Thursday, creating messy road conditions and travel delays over a large swath of the region, especially Oklahoma and Missouri, during the morning commute.

A freezing fog advisory was issued Thursday morning for several counties in central and southern Oklahoma. Multiple car accidents were reported in the region during the hazardous conditions, according to the National Weather Service in Norman. A freezing fog advisory is issued when fog develops at a location where surface temperatures are at or below freezing, resulting in the liquid droplets contained in fog to freeze instantly on any surface.

Kansas City International Airport was temporarily closed just before 7 a.m. local time on Thursday as crews worked to clear runways and taxiways from rapidly accumulating snow. The airfield reopened about 25 minutes later.

Snow-covered roads in the Kansas City area on Interstate 29 from early morning Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023.

Nearly 3 inches of snow was reported near the airport at 6 a.m., about an inch more than the 2 inches reported in downtown Kansas City. To the north in northwestern Missouri, St. Joseph reported 3.5 inches of snow Thursday morning.

The snow-covered roads in northwest Missouri weren't the only routes impacted. The Quad Cities including eastern Iowa also saw deteriorating road conditions in the morning as roads became partially covered with heavy snow.

The National Weather Service advised against traveling around Dubuque, Iowa, after conditions worsened on several highways. During the morning hours, the snow completely covered roads across the area. Highway 30 became treacherous, especially after a semi jackknifed in the eastbound lanes during the snowfall.

In Iowa, several locations in the eastern part of the state reported 3 or more inches of snow on Thursday. As morning turned to afternoon, snowfall totals of 6 inches were reported across Iowa and Wisconsin. The highest amount was recorded in Iowa's Dubuque Regional Airport, where 9 inches fell as of noon local time Thursday.

In eastern Colorado, Interstate 70 was closed for nearly three hours between U.S. 36 and the Kansas border before sunrise Thursday as blowing snow drastically lowered visibility.

Preliminary snowfall reports indicated areas west of Oklahoma City saw the most snow in the state, with Okarchie, Oklahoma, recording the highest total from the storm, at 2.5 inches. Also, icy road conditions led to a crash on Interstate 44 in Oklahoma City.

Winter weather conditions lasted well past the morning hours in other areas, including in Laramie County, Wyoming, where hazardous conditions created near-zero visibility on Highway 215 at around noon on Thursday.

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