A man crosses a snow-covered street in Lawrence, Kansas, during the Midwest’s second major snowstorm.
The United States has had some unusually large winter storms this year. Snowstorm Nemo pounded the Northeast in early February. Then, later that month, the Midwest was hit with two major snowstorms. Just days after the first storm brought a foot or more of snow to many areas, a second storm swept across the region. Soon, the Midwest was covered with layers of wet snow that made travel there dangerous.
The Midwest did not get an unusual amount of snow for February. However, because the snow was wet, it was unusually heavy. It strained and damaged power lines, leaving more than 100,000 homes and businesses without electricity. Some areas even experienced thundersnow, a rare kind of thunderstorm in which snow falls instead of rain.
After the second storm hit, the state government in Missouri warned people to stay off highways. Even snowplows were sliding into ditches and having trouble traveling on roadways. The snow also caused large trees to fall and cave in the roofs of some Missouri businesses. In Kansas, two people died in snow-related car accidents on Interstate Highway 70. Many schools and office buildings closed across the Midwest. Students, government workers, and others stayed home to keep out of the harsh weather.
By midday on February 26, the second storm had reached the Great Lakes. Areas around the lakes were hit with snow, sleet, and freezing rain. Hundreds of flights were cancelled at Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway Airports. In eastern Wisconsin along Lake Michigan, many schools closed after some areas received more than a foot of heavy, wet snow. Getting hit with two major snowstorms in a row has been very hard on Midwesterners. Yet, many hope that these storms will help relieve drought conditions in their region once the snow thaws.
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