Snow and blowing snow caused problems for drivers in many parts of the state today. Adair County worker Ray Stewart was out this morning clearing secondary roads. He says it was blowing pretty good. "The drifts that I’ve encountered…aren’t too deep, maybe two or three foot. But the problem is, you go through it, and you look behind — it snows right back in, just about as quick as you can get through it. He was dreading the wind, which was likely to keep blowing all day.
Stewart says the wind kept snow drifting across the roads he was working to clear. The drifts were six to eight feet wide across the roads, and two to three feet deep. No roads in the Adair area were closed earlier today as the snow fell, but if it blows all day he figured some might close by nighttime.
Stewart says the drifts on the north-south roads he plowed weren’t as bad the ones along the east-west routes. A jacknifed semi closed I-80 near Iowa City about 8 AM and I-35 is lined with cars that spun off the pavement and crashed or plowed into ditches and medians. 35-80 around Des Moines is passable once again as the plows work to keep up, and forecasters say it’ll taper off this afternoon.