(The Associated Press circulated the following story on February 11.)
BILLINGS, Mont. — Snow driven by wind gusting to 57 mph closed schools and made highway travel hazardous Wednesday on the northern Plains, and halted an Amtrak train.
Some highways in western South Dakota had drifts 3 feet high, authorities reported.
A stretch of about 100 miles of Interstate 94 was closed from late Tuesday until midday Wednesday in eastern Montana, from Miles City to the North Dakota state line.
Police in South Dakota recommended people travel only if absolutely necessary in the state’s northwest corner, including I-94 between Sturgis and the Wyoming state line. North Dakota authorities urged motorists to stay off sections of I-94 and I-29.
The so-called “Alberta Clipper” storm blowing out of Canada did not bring heavy snow – 2 inches of snow was reported at Jamestown, N.D. – but the wind picked up snow and caused drifting and visibility-cutting whiteout conditions. Visibility was down to about 200 feet in central South Dakota, the state Department of Highways said.
Gusts to 57 mph were reported Wednesday at Ellsworth Air Force Base, east of Rapid City, S.D.
Amtrak’s Empire Builder service across North Dakota was halted Wednesday by blizzard conditions, said Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari.
Passenger R.D. Knutson of Fargo, N.D., said the train had to stop about 21 miles east of Williston, N.D., late Tuesday and back up into the city.
Early Wednesday, Magliari said, the train reached Minot, N.D., about 125 miles from Williston, but the rest of the eastbound run was canceled. Stranded passengers were put up in hotels, he said.
Wind and blowing snow also caused travel problems in southern Minnesota, while in Montana, many secondary routes in the eastern part of the state were impassable Wednesday.
“We are opening up roads as fast as we can,” said Bill Juve, supervisor for the Montana Department of Transportation at Wolf Point, whose office had about 40 plows on the roads. “We’ve got eight or 10 roads that are absolutely blocked. Sometimes we can poke a hole in it for one lane of traffic.”
Sidney, Mont., on the state’s far eastern edge, was isolated with barricades erected to keep people off roads that were blocked by snow not far outside town, and schools were closed for about 1,200 students.
“It was drifting so bad. We were afraid no one would get to the school buildings this morning,” said Sandi Edwards, administrative assistant for the school district. “I’ve lived here 24 years and I don’t remember them ever closing all the outlets out of here.”