WY (3 each); TX (2); KS (1) –12-19

lornajarrettblanchard December 22, 2007

—>19 AP. “Midwestern snowstorm death toll…19.” Frederick News-Post, MD, 12-25-2007, B16.[1]

— 12 Blanchard tally of State breakouts below.

— 11 AP. “11 deaths, power outages blamed on Midwest storm.” Pantagraph.com, 12-23-2007.

— 2 NCDC, NOAA. Storm Data, Vol. 49, No. 12, Dec 2007.

Kansas (1)

— 1 State. AP. “11 deaths…blamed on Midwest storm.” Pantagraph.com, 12-23-2007.

— 1 Auburn area, I-70, Dec 22. 32-car pileup just west of Auburn.[2]

Minnesota (3)

— 3 State. AP. “11 deaths…blamed on Midwest storm.” Pantagraph.com, 12-23-2007.

— 0 State. NCDC, NOAA. Storm Data, Vol. 49, No. 12, Dec 2007 (no deaths noted).

Texas (2)

— 2 State. NCDC, NOAA. Storm Data, Vol. 49, No. 12, Dec 2007, p. 146.

— 1 State. AP. “11 deaths…blamed on Midwest storm.” Pantagraph.com, 12-23-2007.[3]

— 1 Gray County, I-40, Dec 22. Traffic accident in snow and white out conditions.[4]

— 1 Potter County, I-40, Dec 22. Male, 65, in “major vehicular accident.”[5]

Wisconsin (3)

–3 State. AP. “11 deaths…blamed on Midwest storm.” Pantagraph.com, 12-23-2007.

–3 State. Capital Times, Madison WI. “Storm deadly for 3.” 12-24-2007, p. 1.

–1 Coon Valley vic., Dec 23. Male, 32, lost control of vehicle and hit by another vehicle.[6]

–1 Dunn. Two-vehicle crash; female, 40, of Madison.[7]

–1 Galesville, Dec 22. Female lost control of vehicle on snow-covered road; hit by another car.[8]

–0 State. NCDC, NOAA. Storm Data, Vol. 49, No. 12, Dec 2007 (no deaths noted).

Wyoming (3)

— 3 State. AP. “11 deaths…blamed on Midwest storm.” Pantagraph.com, 12-23-2007.

— 0 State. NCDC, NOAA. Storm Data, Vol. 49, No. 12, Dec 2007 (no deaths noted).

Narrative Information

Dec 22, Eastern Kansas, NCDC: “A winter storm moved across extreme eastern Kansas on December 22, 2007. A band of heavy snow was observed, depositing as much as nine inches of snow. Northwest winds up to 30 mph caused blowing and drifting of the snow. The very dangerous driving conditions caused several traffic accidents.” (NCDC, NOAA. Storm Data, Vol. 49, No. 12, Dec 2007, p. 61.)

Dec 22, NE Kansas, NCDC: “A winter storm system brought near-blizzard conditions to portions of northeast Kansas during the morning hours of December 22, the busy Saturday for travel before the Christmas holiday. Heavy snowfall and fifteen to twenty-five mile per hour winds that gusted to 25 to 35 miles per hour throughout the morning and afternoon caused significant blowing and drifting of accumulated and falling snow, and helped to reduce visibilities to less than one quarter of a mile at times. The heaviest snowband stretched along a line from near Wichita northeastward through Topeka, up to St. Josephs, MO. The greatest snowfall totals associated with this band were between nine and eleven inches–including a new daily snowfall accumulation record measured at the National Weather Service in Topeka of nine inches. Traffic accidents were reported across northeast Kansas, the worst of which occurred just after 1:30 pm CST in Wabaunsee County. Thirty-two cars piled up on Interstate 70 just west of Auburn, which shut down a forty mile stretch of interstate in both directions for forty miles. One person will killed in the wreck, and several injured. Two shelters were opened to assist stranded travelers.” (NCDC, NOAA. Storm Data, Vol. 49, No. 12, Dec 2007, p. 60.)

Dec 22, SE Kansas, NCDC: “A powerful area of low pressure brought heavy snow and near blizzard conditions to portions of central, south-central and southeast Kansas on December 22nd. Heavy snow began to fall across the area between 0700 and 1000 CST. The heavy snow spread east and northeast as the day progressed, before coming to an end between 1600-1800 CST. A swath of 6 to 9 inches of snow accumulated, generally along the Kansas Turnpike corridor. The heavy snow in concert with 25 to 40 mph winds reduced visibilities to less than one-quarter mile for several hours across the area, and in fact near whiteout conditions were periodically reported. Numerous traffic accidents and slide-offs occurred, and flights at the Wichita Mid-Continent Airport were either delayed or canceled.” (NCDC. Storm Data, V. 49, No. 12, Dec 2007, p. 63.)

Dec 22, West Kansas, NCDC: “An intense winter storm moved into western Kansas early Saturday morning, December 22nd. This storm brought snow to most of Dodge City’s CWA, with nearly every county reporting blizzard conditions during the day Saturday. North winds were sustained above the 35 mph range for over 3 hours in nearly each and every DDC CWA county. Reports of zero visibility were common for prolonged periods of time, totaling over 6 hours in some cases. Snowfall was greatest in western Haskell county and eastern Grant county, as well as small part of northeast Stevens County, where 6.5 inches was reported. From 3 to 5 inches of snow fell around this 6+ inches patch, generally bounded by a line from Johnson City in Stanton County to near Garden City in Finney County to Cimarron in Gray County to near Liberal in Seward County. Another area of 3 to 5 inches of snow fell east of a line from Ashland in Clark county to Greensburg in Kiowa county to just northeast of Jetmore in Hodgeman county to east of LaCrosse in Rush county. One to two inches generally fell across the remainder of DDC’s CWA.” (NCDC, NOAA. Storm Data, Vol. 49, No. 12, Dec 2007, p. 64.)

Dec 23, NE Minn., NCDC: “An intense low pressure system brought wintry precipitation, mainly in the form of heavy snow, to much of northeast Minnesota over the pre-holiday weekend. Precipitation began as a mixture of light snow, rain, and freezing drizzle on the evening of December 21. Periods of light snow persisted during much of December 22, before turning heavy by early December 23. Storm snowfall totals ranged from 6 to 18 inches, including a broad area of 9 to 11 inches over the Arrowhead and higher amounts near Duluth. Winds gusted to 40 mph on December 23, resulting in considerable blowing and drifting snow.” (NCDC, NOAA. Storm Data, Vol. 49, No. 12, Dec 2007, p. 86.)

Dec 22-24, SE Minn., NCDC: “A winter storm moved from the southern Plains into the western Great Lakes during the weekend of December 22-23. In southeast Minnesota, this was the second high impact storm of the month, producing heavy snow and strong winds. Highest snow accumulations were near the Mississippi River and ranged between 6 and 10 inches. Specific reports from weather observers included 9.3 inches near Reno (Houston County), 9.0 inches at Winona (Winona County) and 8.3 inches at Spring Grove (Houston County). Strong northwest wind gusts of 40 to 45 mph were common, with a few locations reaching around 50 mph. This caused blowing snow, which produced whiteout conditions. The strongest winds were closer to Interstate 35 with gusts of 52 mph at Dexter, MN (Mower County) and 51 mph at Kasson, MN (Dodge County). Rochester, MN recorded a gust of 49 mph.” (NCDC, NOAA. Storm Data, Vol. 49, No. 12, Dec 2007, p. 87.)

Dec 22, Texas North Panhandle, NCDC: “One to two inches of snow combined with strong winds to create white out conditions east of Amarillo and also near Pampa. The snow and blowing snow contributed to a major vehicular accident on Interstate 40 near the intersection of U.S. Highway 287 and also at the intersection of U.S. Highway 60 and Texas State Highway 152. A sixty-five year old male was killed in the Potter County accident and one person was killed in the Gray County accident.” (NCDC. Storm Data, Vol. 49, No. 12, Dec 2007, p. 146.)

Dec 22-23, SE Wisconsin, NCDC: “A long-duration winter storm on December 22-23rd generated snow and blowing snow, but was preceded by two to three hours of freezing rain. Ice accumulations of 1/8 to 1/4 inch were followed by snow accumulations of 4 to 10 inches. Specific accumulations include an estimated 10 inches in far northwestern Marquette County and far northwestern Sauk County, and an estimated 8 inches in far northwestern Iowa County. Elsewhere over these counties snowfall amounts ranged from 3 inches to 8 or 9 inches. Gusty northwest winds to 30 to 39 knots (35 to 45 mph) during the latter part of the winter storm picked up the new snow and generated near-blizzard conditions in open rural areas of Lafayette, Iowa, and Sauk Counties. Drifts grew to 2 to 3 feet in height. Synoptically, low pressure deepened rapidly as it moved northeast through southeast Wisconsin on its way to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.” (NCDC. Storm Data, Vol. 49, No. 12, Dec 2007, p. 174.)

Press

Dec 23: “Milwaukee. Highways were hazardous for holiday travelers Sunday [23^rd] and thousands of homes and businesses had no electricity in the Midwest as a storm blustered through with heavy snow and howling wind. At least 11 deaths had been blamed on the storm…

“Winter storm warnings were posted for parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan on Sunday as the core of the storm headed north across the Great Lakes. Parts of Wisconsin already had a foot of snow, and up to a foot was forecast Sunday in northeastern Minnesota, the National Weather Service said….

“The storm rolled through Colorado and Wyoming on Friday, then spread snow and ice on Saturday from the Texas Panhandle to Minnesota. Multi-car pileups closed parts of several major highways Saturday in the Plains states. Because of the wind, airlines canceled more than 250 flights Sunday at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, the city Aviation Department said….

“More than 11,000 homes and businesses were without power at some point Saturday in Wisconsin because of the freezing rain, ice, gusty wind and heavy snow, utilities said. Michigan utilities reported some 74,500 customers were without power Sunday night.

“About 24,000 customers in Illinois were still blacked out around 9 p.m….” (AP. “11 deaths, power outages blamed on Midwest storm.” Pantagraph.com, 12-23-2007.)

Sources

Altoona Mirror, Altoona, PA. “Snow: All fatalities from storm-related accidents” (Cont. from C1). 12-24-2007, p. C5. Accessed 9-10-2016 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/us/pennsylvania/altoona/altoona-mirror/2007/12-24/page-19?tag

Associated Press (Carrie Antifinger). “11 deaths, power outages blamed on Midwest storm.” Pantagraph.com, 12-23-2007, updated 12-24-2007. Accessed 1-14-2009 at: http://www.pantagraph.com/news/deaths-power-outages-blamed-on-midwest-storm/article_40e710a3-fbe0-5a9f-9c45-9da8f4093872.html

Associated Press. “Midwestern snowstorm death toll climbs to 19.” Frederick News-Post, MD, 12-25-2007, B16. Accessed 9-10-2016 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/us/maryland/frederick/frederick-news-post/2007/12-25/page-279?tag

Capital Times (Steven Elbow), Madison WI. “Storm deadly for 3.” 12-24-2007, p. 1. Accessed 9-10-2016 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/us/wisconsin/madison/madison-capital-times/2007/12-24?tag

National Climatic Data Center. Storm Data, Vol. 49, No. 12, December 2007. Asheville, NC: NCDC, NOAA. Accessed 9-10-2016 at: http://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/orders/IPS/IPS-DAC3BE41-4A00-4D4E-BBC8-92FABC000EEC.pdf

[1] “At least 19 deaths were linked to the weekend-long [Saturday, Dec 22-Sunday, Dec 23] blast of ice and windblown snow, which led to multi-car pileups that closed sections of several major highways on the Plains. Conditions had eased Monday, with sunshine across much of the regtion…”

[2] NCDC, NOAA. Storm Data, Vol. 49, No. 12, Dec 2007, p. 60.

[3] Another publication of the AP story (Altoona Mirror, PA)was more specific, writing: “The fatality in Texas came in a chain-reaction pileup involving more than 50 vehicles, including several tractor-trailer rigs, on Interstate 40, police said. At least 16 people were taken to hospitals….Authorities believe the pileup, which shut down the highway for most of the day, was caused by near zero visibility in blowing snow and slippery pavement. Probably reference to Potter County death.

[4] NCDC, NOAA. Storm Data, Vol. 49, No. 12, Dec 2007, p. 146.

[5] NCDC, NOAA. Storm Data, Vol. 49, No. 12, Dec 2007, p. 146.

[6] Capital Times, WI. “Storm deadly for 3.” 12-24-2007, p. 1. Victim identified as Jerry L. Boyle of Milwaukee.

[7] Capital Times, Madison, WI. “Storm deadly for 3.” 12-24-2007, p. 1. Victim identified as Joanne Ditsch. Noted that on U.S. 51 and Dyreson Road, she lost control of her vehicle and crossed center line into path of a vehicle.

[8] Capital Times, WI. “Storm deadly for 3.” 12-24-2007, p. 1. Victim identified as Sara Spohn, 23, of Arcadia.