A quick-moving snowstorm created treacherous driving conditions near the Des Monies, Iowa, area on Monday morning, which led to many accidents across the region, including a multi-vehicle pileup of roughly 50 cars with at least one person severely injured, officials report.Police report the westbound lanes on I-80 between Altoona, Iowa, and the intersection with Interstates 35 and 235 remained closed around 11 a.m. for more than an hour.> This video from @KCCINews is terrifying. Big pileup on I-80 near Des Moines today. At least one person is hurt. pic.twitter.com/U1bJWtbtAE> > -- Tanner Kahler (@tannerkahler) December 9, 2019According to KCCI, the Iowa State Patrol said the crash tore the sides of semitrailers, mangled the fronts of some vehicles and shredded the trunks of others.At least one person was seriously injured in the crash, but no fatalities were reported, KCCI said."Temperatures fell into the low 20s F as the snow squall arrived and visibility was reduced to below a quarter of a mile," AccuWeather meteorologist Randy Adkins said."I think the fact that conditions changed so rapidly likely contributed as well. This is the type of thing that will easily catch someone off guard," Adkins said.
Multiple car pile up on I-80 westbound lane. Conditions continue to improve in central Iowa but the same winter conditions will impact eastern Iowa through the early afternoon. Image via Iowa DOT Snow ended across the eastern Dakotas early Monday morning, but the snowstorm was just beginning to ramp up farther to the east.The narrow band of heavy snow moved eastward across central and eastern Iowa on Monday afternoon, causing the National Weather Service to issue Iowa's first-ever snow squall warning.The sudden snow and quick coating likely contributed to the multiple-vehicle pile-up."Total snow amounts in Des Moines were generally less than an inch, but the combination of a slick coating of snow, significantly reduced visibility, and wind gusts near 40 mph likely produced very dangerous driving conditions," Adkins said.
In Minnesota, there were 114 crashes, which injured 16 with injury and there were 114 vehicle spin-outs or vehicles that were off of the road, and 8 jackknifed semis 11:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Monday, the Minnesota State Patrol reported on their twitter page.In Omaha, Nebraska, there was a seven-car pileup after the storm created slick roads in the area.> @KETV seven car centipede at 42nd and Dodge pic.twitter.com/Am63SdoBts> > -- Alex Maltese (@AlexMaltese) December 9, 2019On Sunday morning, snow began falling across parts of Montana, Wyoming and western Colorado. Snow accumulations were light, with just a couple of inches reported on lower elevations.The snow reached the Dakotas later in the weekend, with 5.7 inches reported at the National Weather Service office in Bismarck, North Dakota.Rapid City, South Dakota, recorded a wind gust of 67 mph as the snow moved in late Sunday.Download the free AccuWeather app to check the forecast in your area. Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.