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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — From blinding snowstorms in Colorado to tornados in the South and Midwest, the U.S. has seen its share of wild weather over the past 24 hours. At least three people were killed Thursday night in Midwest tornadoes. Current weather conditions are available at the National Weather Service website. A major storm dumped heavy snow in Colorado on Thursday — forcing flight cancellations and shutting down Interstate 70 for much of the day, stranding some people in their cars for hours. The storm comes as other parts of the country face severe weather. Massive chunks of hail pelted parts of Kansas and Missouri on Wednesday night, with storms unleashing possible tornadoes in Kansas. Earlier this month, a blizzard dumped more than 10 feet of snow on a northern California ski resort. The Colorado storm, which began Wednesday night, delivered the slushy, wet snow typical for March, one of the snowiest months in Denver, and wasn’t expected to wind down until Friday morning. The heaviest accumulations were expected in Colorado’s Front Range region, where the eastern plains meet the Rocky Mountains and the vast majority of the state’s population lives. Most of the snow was falling in the foothills west of Denver. Those higher elevations had up to 3 feet of snow by Thursday and more than another foot was forecast by Friday morning. Denver itself got up to about 9 inches by Thursday. Up to another 10 inches were expected in the Denver area. A mountain stretch of I-70, the state’s main east-west highway, closed as the storm moved in Wednesday night. Trucks, many without the tire chains required to travel the route, got stuck and blocked other vehicles from getting through for hours. The big rigs were towed out by the afternoon, said Sgt. Patrick Rice of the Colorado State Patrol. Some drivers may have been stranded until I-70 reopened, he said, but no injuries were reported. The highway remains closed to trucks through noon Friday and could shut to passenger vehicles too as the storm picks up. Rice urged any drivers setting out to bring food and blankets in case they get trapped. “We’re going to continue to work at this and keep the road open the best we can,” said Matt Inzeo, a spokesperson for the Colorado Department of Transportation. Severe weather Tornadoes tore through several central U.S. states Thursday night, flattening homes and trailers in an RV park and killing at least three people, authorities said. Crews and cadaver dogs searched for more victims in the rubble Friday. Thursday night’s storms left trails of destruction and injuries or deaths in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Arkansas. Tornadoes were also suspected in Illinois and Missouri. In Hot Springs Village, Arkansas, residents began picking up the pieces late into the night. No serious injuries were reported. In Indiana, State Police said there are “many significant injuries” to at least 38 people after a tornado tore through the community of Winchester on Thursday, part of a storm system that also unleashed suspected twisters that damaged homes and businesses in parts of Ohio and Kentucky. Residents of the town of 4,700 about 70 miles northeast of Indianapolis picked tree branches and sheet metal from their yards Friday morning. Shingles littered the streets and fields in the southern part of town. The high school was serving as a temporary shelter. Carey Todd, 55, said the tornado looked like a “a bunch of black birds.” A church was destroyed. A few remnants still stood, as well as a mural depicting a flowing river, with a white awning still attached. A sign below the mural read, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” The storm damaged or destroyed about 130 homes and a Taco Bell restaurant, Mayor Bob McCoy said. He and his wife hunkered in a closet during the twister, which hit around 8 p.m. “I’ve never heard that sound before; I don’t want to hear it again,” McCoy said. West of Winchester, officials said as many as half the structures in the town of Selma, population 750, might have been damaged. Only minor injuries were reported, emergency officials said in a news release. Earlier in the night state police said they were investigating reports of deaths but at the news conference Carter said there were “no known fatalities.” State officials called on Indiana Task Force One to help with search efforts in Winchester. The team is one of 28 Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency-sponsored Urban Search and Rescue teams in the United States. “I’m shaken; it’s overwhelming,” McCoy said. “I heard what sounded like a train and then I started hearing sirens.” He and his wife were hunkered in a closet during the twister, which hit about 8 p.m. “I’ve never heard that sound before; I don’t want to hear it again,” McCoy said. The suspected tornado damaged a Walmart store and a Taco Bell in Winchester, Randolph County Sheriff Art Moystner told FOX59/CBS4. Travel throughout the county is restricted to emergency management workers only, he said. At about the same time as the tornado hit Winchester, another suspected twister touched down about 75 miles to the east in Ohio. The tornado hit near the southern end of Indian Lake, impacting the villages of Lakeview and Russells Point, said Sheri Timmers, a spokesperson for Logan County, home to the villages. “As far as we know, we have lots of injuries. We don’t know the extent of the injuries,” Timmers said. “An RV park was impacted.” Multiple buildings in the Indian Lake area were damaged, Timmers said, but the full extent of the destruction was still being assessed. Whether anyone was missing in the aftermath, was not immediately known. “They’re right now doing some searching,” she said. Amber Fagan, president and chief executive of the Indian Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, called the village of Lakeview “completely demolished,” saying homes, campgrounds and a laundromat were hard-hit by the tornado. “There’s places burning,” she said. “There’s power lines through people’s windows.” A shelter has been opened for anyone displaced. In Ohio’s Huron County, emergency management officials posted on Facebook that there was a “confirmed large and extremely dangerous tornado” near Plymouth — some 75 miles northeast of Indian Lake. To the west of Winchester in Delaware County, emergency management officials said initial assessments suggested that up to half of the structures in the small town of Selma were damaged by a possible tornado. “We are relieved to report that only minor injuries have been reported thus far, with one individual transported to the hospital for treatment,” the Delaware County Emergency Management Agency said in a news release. About 750 people live in Selma. Earlier, storms damaged homes and trailers in the Ohio River communities of Hanover and Lamb in Indiana. The Ohio governor’s office said they did not have any information about fatalities in the state. Jefferson County Sheriff Ben Flint said storms destroyed three or four single-family homes and four or five other structures and demolished several uninhabited campers along the river. “We were fortunate that no one was injured,” Flint told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. Sgt. Stephen Wheeles of the Indiana State Police earlier said another suspected tornado struck Jefferson County, damaging several homes and downing trees and power lines. He posted photos on X showing one home with its roof torn off and another missing roof shingles as well as an image of a baseball-sized hailstone. Around 2,000 Duke Energy customers in Hanover lost power at one point during the storms, the company reported. In Kentucky, Trimble County Emergency Management Director Andrew Stark said the storms damaged at least 50 structures, including homes. “We have a whole bunch of damage,” Stark told the Courier Journal of Louisville. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear issued a statement saying a tornado touched down along the Indiana state border in Gallatin and Trimble counties and there were reports of a couple of minor injuries. He urged Kentuckians to stay aware of the weather as more storms were expected across the state Thursday evening and overnight. “It does appear that there is some really significant damage, especially to the town of Milton in Trimble County,” Beshear said. “We think there are over 100 structures that are potentially damaged.” The state’s emergency operations center was activated to coordinate storm response, Beshear said. Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb posted on Facebook Thursday night that the Indiana Department of Homeland Security is monitoring the current weather situation. “Severe weather has impacted Hoosiers all across the state, and we have emergency response personnel in the impacted areas,” he wrote. The Indiana Department of Homeland Security posted on Facebook that their staff are on scene in Randolph County, home to Winchester, working with locals and that the State Emergency Operations Center has been activated to an enhanced staffing level to respond to the storm. A Facebook post on the Winchester Community High School page said all the schools in that school district would be closed on Friday. Another post said the high school had electricity and was open for emergency use for people who “need somewhere warm and dry.” Large pieces of hail also was reported in parts of the St. Louis area Thursday afternoon. There were unconfirmed reports of tornadoes in Jefferson County, Missouri, and Monroe County, Illinois, but no immediate reports of damage. Severe weather was possible into Thursday night from northeast Texas to Indiana and Ohio, the National Weather Service said on X. Back in Colorado, more than 53,000 customers were without power across Colorado on Thursday primarily in metro Denver and along the Front Range, according to poweroutage.us. But plenty of people were enjoying the snow, like Melanie Brooks, who was out walking her dogs Thursday morning in Denver. “I’m kind of sad that I didn’t make it up to the mountains because now it’s tough to drive there, and I’m missing a powder day,” she said. Since the storm is the rarer kind that brings more snow to the eastern half of the state rather than the mountains, it may not do much to feed the Colorado River, which supplies water to more than 40 million people in the West. The storm started as rain in the Denver area and turned into snow. The area was expected to get 10 to 20 inches of snow, with up to 2 feet in the western suburbs, the weather service said. Jarmila Schultz, 77, was tackling her sidewalks in shifts as the snow continued to fall. “I have to get out early because I have to do it like four times because it’s going to snow all day,” she said, noting she has cleats on her boots to prevent her from falling. “It’s water, ice and it’s very hard for me to lift.” But she still loves the snow. “You know, in my time I skied, snow-shoed and did all this and I think Colorado’s incredible for those type of things.” Denver deployed 36 residential plows starting at 3 a.m. Thursday with the plan to shave the top few inches of snow off streets, to help clear paths to main streets. Tyler Barnes, a Miami native who drove a ride-share overnight, was trying snow-shoeing for the first time Thursday morning, and found it was pretty easy. “It was really what I hoped it would be like,” he said. “I feel confident I could walk a long way in these.” Denver International Airport was open Thursday, but about 800 flights were canceled with nearly 200 more delayed, according to Flightaware.com. The snowstorm comes as other parts of the country face severe weather. Massive chunks of hail pelted parts of Kansas and Missouri on Wednesday night, with storms unleashing possible tornadoes in Kansas. The Trucker Staff contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON — In an effort to improve air quality, decrease pollution and tackle the climate crisis, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has launched the Low Carbon Transportation Materials Program. The program is aimed at lowering air pollution, specifically greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), through reimbursement and incentive funding for low carbon construction materials and products used in transportation, according to a news release. The program will make $2 billion available from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act for state departments of transportation, tribes, metropolitan planning organizations and other agencies to buy materials that create less pollution, including steel, concrete and asphalt. “Transportation and industrial sectors make up about half of our economy’s emissions contributing to climate change — but today, the Biden-Harris Administration takes another important step to change that,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “As we modernize America’s infrastructure through President Biden’s infrastructure law, we’re proud to announce this first-of-its-kind program to accelerate the use of cleaner construction materials that create less carbon pollution.” The federal government is the largest purchaser in the world, with an annual purchasing power of over $630 billion. Through the Biden-Harris Administration’s Federal Buy Clean Initiative, the federal government is for the first time harnessing that procurement power to prioritize the use of American-made, lower-carbon construction materials, the news release states. “The Biden-Harris Administration is working to deliver transportation to the American people that is both good for the environment and the economy, which means a better quality of life for everyone,” said Deputy U.S. Transportation Secretary Polly Trottenberg. “Under the Inflation Reduction Act, this investment will unlock a wave of innovation in the materials and processes that will dramatically reduce carbon emissions in the transportation sector while promoting American manufacturing.” FHWA is using a hybrid approach to implement the program. First, FHWA is making $1.2 billion available to states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico through a Request for Applications to fund activities and projects that reduce pollution, including carbon emissions, through the use of low-embodied carbon materials and products. FHWA officials say this approach will allow them “to quickly provide reimbursement or incentive funds to states to begin eligible activities and incorporate low-embodied carbon materials on construction projects now.” Second, later this year, FHWA will also make available $800 million to target non-state applicants, including cities, tribes, metropolitan planning organizations and other agencies through a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). “To achieve our goal of addressing climate change, we must encourage investment in more sustainable transportation,” said Federal Highway Administrator Shailen Bhatt. “The use of lower carbon materials, which match the durability of conventional materials while lowering pollution, is one pathway that will help us achieve President Biden’s goal of net zero emissions by 2050.” In addition to funding the use of cleaner construction materials that reduce pollution and carbon emissions for transportation projects, the program will provide resources for agencies to implement processes and coordinate with industry to quantify the emissions of construction materials. “That information will allow substantially lower carbon materials to be identified by comparing emissions to established thresholds,” the news release states. “Funding can also be used to develop specifications for low-embodied carbon materials that ensure adequate engineering performance for appropriate use on federal-aid projects.” The Low Carbon Transportation Materials Grants program is one of three new programs at FHWA created by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. These programs together provide over $5 billion for critical new work.

CLARK COUNTY, Wis. — Nine people are dead after an 18-wheeler struck a van on Friday morning in Clark County, Wisconsin. According to a news release from the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, preliminary reports indicate that the semi was traveling eastbound on State Highway 95 approaching the intersection of County Highway J. As the truck was approaching the intersection, a van was driving northbound on County Highway J. The van continued northbound, entered the intersection, and was struck by the semi traveling eastbound, the news release stated. One of those killed included the semi driver, who was pronounced dead at the scene by Coroner Clarissa Rochester. There were nine people in the van, eight of them, including the driver, died at the scene, according to the news release. One passenger in the van was taken to the Marshfield St. Joseph’s Hospital as a result of their injuries. The Clark County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene with the Wisconsin State Patrol, the Hatfield Fire and Rescue Department, the Neillsville Area Ambulance, the Clark County Highway Department and the Clark County Coroner’s Office. The names of everyone involved are not being released pending notification of family members. The investigation is still ongoing.

TRUCKEE, Calif. — A powerful blizzard that closed highways and wreaked other havoc had mostly moved through the Sierra Nevada by early Monday but forecasters warned that more snow was on the way for Northern California mountains. Sections of Interstate 80 to the west and north of Lake Tahoe that had shut down late Sunday were slowly reopening by Monday night, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) said. The CHP office in South Lake Tahoe warned motorists that tire chains for improved traction are required on routes through the mountains, where more than 7 feet of snow fell over the weekend. Blizzard warnings had mostly expired but scattered thunderstorms were likely and another 2 feet (60 centimeters) of snow was possible at higher elevations, the National Weather Service office in Sacramento said. The multiday storm caused traffic backups and closures on I-80 and many other roadways, shut down ski resorts for two days, and left thousands of homes and businesses without power. By Sunday night, Pacific Gas & Electric had restored electricity to all but about 4,400 Northern California customers, while NV Energy had reduced its outages to roughly 1,000 homes and businesses across the state line in Nevada. Palisades Tahoe, the largest resort on the north end of the lake, was among several ski mountains that closed most or all chairlifts for a second straight day Sunday because of snow, wind and low visibility. Palisades reported a three-day snow total of 6 feet (1.8 meters), with more falling. “We will be digging out for the foreseeable future,” officials said on the resort’s blog. Kevin Dupui, who lives in Truckee, just northwest of Lake Tahoe, said his snow blower broke, but it doesn’t really matter because there’s nowhere to put all the snow anyway. “We just move it around,” he said Sunday. Dupui said residents and tourists seem to be mostly heeding warnings to stay home. “The roads haven’t been that safe, so we don’t really want people driving around,” he said. Another Truckee resident, Jenelle Potvin, said at first some cynical locals thought “there was a little too much hype” made about the approaching storm. But then the unrelenting snow began Friday night. “It was definitely a blizzard. And we woke up to a lot of snow yesterday and it never let up,” Potvin said Sunday. Her neighbors were snowmobiling and cross-country skiing in the streets. In the eastern Sierra, the Mammoth Mountain Ski Area was closed Sunday as winds of up to 70 mph made it too difficult for ski patrol to complete avalanche mitigation, the resort said. More than 3 feet of snow fell over three days, and more was on the way. Weather service meteorologist William Churchill on Saturday called the storm an “extreme blizzard” for the Sierra Nevada but said he didn’t expect records to be broken. The storm began barreling into the region Thursday. A widespread blizzard warning through Sunday morning covered a 300-mile stretch of the mountains. A second, weaker storm was forecast to bring additional rain and snow between Monday and Wednesday, forecasters said. California authorities on Friday shut down 100 miles of I-80, the main route between Reno and Sacramento, because of “spin outs, high winds, and low visibility.” There was no estimate when the freeway would reopen from the California-Nevada border west of Reno to near Emigrant Gap, California. Rudy Islas spent about 40 minutes shoveling his car out before heading to work at a coffee shop in Truckee on Sunday morning. Neither he nor his customers were fazed by the snow, he said. “To be honest, if you’re a local, it’s not a big deal,” he said. “I think a lot of people are used to the snow and they prepare for it.”

TRUCKEE, Calif. — A powerful blizzard that a meteorologist termed “as bad as it gets” howled in the Sierra Nevada mountains, closing a long stretch of Interstate 80 in Northern California, forcing ski resorts to shut down, and leaving thousands of homes without power. More than 10 feet of snow was expected at higher elevations, National Weather Service meteorologist William Churchill said Saturday, creating a “life-threatening concern” for residents near Lake Tahoe and blocking travel on the key east-west freeway. “It’s a blizzard,” said Dubravka Tomasin, a resident of Truckee, California, for more than a decade. “It’s pretty harrowing.” Kyle Frankland, a veteran snow-plow driver, said several parts of his rig broke as he cleared wet snow underneath piles of powder. “I’ve been in Truckee 44 years. This is a pretty good storm,” Frankland said. “It’s not record-breaking by any means, but it’s a good storm.” Churchill said snow totals by late Sunday would range from 5 to 12 feet, with the highest accumulations at elevations above 5,000 feet. Lower elevations were inundated with heavy rain. He called the storm an “extreme blizzard for the Sierra Nevada, in particular, as well as other portions of Nevada and even extending into Utah and portions of western Colorado.” But he said he didn’t expect records to be broken. “It’s certainly just about as bad as it gets in terms of the snow totals and the winds,” Churchill said. “It doesn’t get much worse than that.” A second, weaker storm was forecast to bring an additional 1 to 2 feet of snow in the region between Monday and Wednesday next week, according to the National Weather Service office in Sacramento. Near Lake Tahoe, Thomas Petkanas, a bartender at Alibi Ale Works in Incline Village, Nevada, said about 3 feet of snow had fallen by midday Saturday. He said patrons shook off snow as they arrived at the brewpub and restaurant. “It’s snowing pretty hard out there, really windy, and power is out to about half the town,” Petkanas said by telephone. “We’re one of the few spots open today.” Adele Attix said her husband spent the morning clearing their driveway while she worried about whether she would be able to open her consignment clothing store in Truckee. She said Saturdays are usually the busiest day of the week. “I’d say more than anything, just knowing if we’re going to open or not has probably caused the most amount of stress,” Attix said. “I figured I’d come down here and check out the shop.” Earlier, the weather service warned that blowing snow was creating “extremely dangerous to impossible” driving conditions, with wind gusts in the high mountains at more than 100 mph. Avalanche danger was “high to extreme” in backcountry areas through Sunday evening throughout the central Sierra and greater Lake Tahoe area, the weather service said. California authorities on Friday shut down 100 miles of I-80, the main route between Reno and Sacramento, because of “spin outs, high winds, and low visibility.” There was no estimate when the freeway would reopen from the California-Nevada border west of Reno to near Emigrant Gap, California. Travel was treacherous east of the Sierra, where CalTrans also cited “multiple spin outs and collisions” and “whiteout conditions,” as it closed 90 miles of U.S. 395 from near Bishop in the Owens Valley to Bridgeport, north of Mono Lake. Pacific Gas & Electric reported about 7,468 California homes and businesses without power at 5:56 p.m. NV Energy reported power outages for about 1,500 customers in parts of northern Nevada, including Incline Village and Reno. In southern Nevada the weather service issued a warning Saturday for high winds gusting to 70 mph. NV Energy reported almost 29,000 customers without power in and around Las Vegas on Saturday, but by that evening the number had been reduced to about 16,000. A tornado Friday afternoon in Madera County, California, damaged an elementary school, said Andy Bollenbacher, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Hanford. The storm began barreling into the region Thursday. A blizzard warning through Sunday morning covers a 300-mile stretch of the mountains. Some ski lovers raced up to the mountains ahead of the storm. Daniel Lavely, an avid skier who works at a Reno-area home/construction supply store, was not one of them. He said Friday that he wouldn’t have considered making the hour-drive to ski on his season pass at a Tahoe resort because of the gale-force winds. But most of his customers Friday seemed to think the storm wouldn’t be as bad as predicted, he said. “I had one person ask me for a shovel,” Lavely said. “Nobody asked me about a snowblower, which we sold out the last storm about two weeks ago.” Meteorologists predicted as much as 10 feet of snow was possible in the mountains around Lake Tahoe by the weekend, with 3 to 6 feet in the communities on the lake’s shores and more than a foot possible in the valleys on the Sierra’s eastern front, including Reno. Yosemite National Park closed Friday. Officials said it would remain closed through at least noon Sunday.