TOPEKA — A big league blizzard is hitting the Central Plains, causing Yukon-style conditions across central and western Kansas and a ripping a swath through northeast Kansas. The Kansas Department of Transportation reported major highways including part of I-70, U.S. 50, U.S. 54 and U.S. 160 are closed and most roads are barely passable this morning. The storm, which bumped past east-central Kansas, dumping buckets of cold rain, has stopped traffic in five states with the wind-driven snow. More than 10 inches of snow have fallen so far in parts of western Kansas, said Marc Russell, of the National Weather Service office in Dodge City. “It’s horrible out there,” Russell said. “There’s three to five foot snow drifts all over west-central Kansas … There are definitely blizzard conditions and its definitely life-threatening.” Authorities in New Mexico and Texas had to rescue more than a hundred motorists on I-40 west of Amarillo, Texas. To check weather and road conditions, check the Kansas Department of Transportation Web site at www.511.org or call 511.
Tuesday, Dec. 20, 6 a.m.
Tuesday,
