Snow plays havoc on roads

Snow and an accompanying layer of ice sent cars sliding across roadways and into ditches this morning, but authorities said the commute went better than many in recent weeks.

No serious accidents were reported this morning on either side of the Missouri River.

A fatal crash did occur Sunday in Pottawattamie County as ice and snow began to accumulate on roadways.

Linda Baylis, a 61-year-old resident of Exira, Iowa, lost control of her pickup on icy Interstate 80 northeast of Council Bluffs shortly after 5 p.m. The pickup went off the eastbound lane, rolled several times and ended up in a ditch near the Neola exit, the Iowa State Patrol said. The patrol reported that Baylis was not wearing a seat belt.

A second fatal accident in Iowa on Sunday claimed the life of a Nebraska teenager.

Authorities in Windsor Heights said Lindsay Swanson, 19, of Kearney, was killed when her vehicle flipped over a bridge rail on Interstate 235 and landed on the street below.

Police Capt. Dennis McDaniel said speed and icy road conditions likely contributed to the crash.

Overnight, 1 to 2 inches of snow fell across the metro area, wind gusts topped 40 mph and temperatures hovered in the low 20s. It's expected to remain windy through tonight, with the overnight low dipping to 11 degrees.

Roads are expected to stay slick for the foreseeable future. The slipping and sliding began almost as soon as the snow began to fall Sunday evening. West Dodge Road had chain-reaction collisions reported at 120th, 140th and 156th Streets by about 5:30 p.m.

Light snow can be deceptively dangerous, said meteorologist Scott Dergan of the National Weather Service office in Valley.

“We always encourage drivers to slow down if any snow is on the road,” Dergan said.

In Iowa, the Department of Transportation began pulling its snowplows intermittently from some roadways in the northwest part of the state due to poor visibility and risk to the safety of plow operators. The area affected extends from a line north of U.S. 30 to generally west of U.S. 169. This morning several Iowa DOT snowplows were struck by other motor vehicles in the whiteout conditions.

Snowplows will continue to plow two-lane roadways as long as it is safe to do so and progress can be made. However, plows may be off the roadways intermittently when visibility is poor. Roadways could become impassable during these periods.

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