Fast-moving Danger Was Just Around The Bend Up Ahead

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News / Winter Weather

Fast-moving danger was just around the bend up ahead

New dashcam video shows how a peaceful drive turned into a nightmare scenario with almost zero visibility -- in a matter of just 15 seconds.

By Mark Puleo, AccuWeather staff writer

Published Feb 23, 2022 4:48 AM ICT | Updated Feb 23, 2022 10:55 PM ICT

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This time-lapse video captured by a Penn State meteorology student shows how quickly the weather changes after a passing snow squall in State College, Pennsylvania, on Feb. 19.

Millions of people feel the buzz in their pocket, look down at their phones and find themselves simultaneously asking, "What is a snow squall warning?"

Minutes later, a wall of wispy snow envelops the sky, whiting out everything in sight and inducing terror in unsuspecting drivers.

A snow squall warning is an alert that notifies residents in affected areas that an intense burst of wintry weather is heading toward their location, carrying with it a rush of blanketing snow that can suddenly drop visibility down to almost zero.

As many people in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast learned firsthand in February 2022, it can be an absolute rush. But why are snow squalls so dangerous?

Images captured by highway cameras in Ohio captured the sudden change in driving conditions on Feb. 19, 2022, as a snow squall moved over the state. (Twitter/Ohio Department of Transportation)

"Although snow accumulations are typically an inch or less, the added combination of gusty winds, falling temperatures and quick reductions in visibility can cause extremely dangerous conditions for motorists," the National Weather Service said. "Unfortunately, there is a long history of deadly traffic accidents associated with snow squalls."

Dramatic video footage of the recent snow squalls has captured exactly what that harrowing moment can look like to a motorist. Drivers can be caught in the sudden whiteout with conditions seemingly changing on a dime. If they don’t know how to handle the rapid change in weather, chaos can ensue.

Take a look at the footage recently captured by AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski.

According to Sosnowski, he was driving just 25 mph in State College, Pennsylvania, where AccuWeather is headquartered, when the skies went white.

"The visibility went from unrestricted to less than 100 feet in a few seconds, even at that slow speed," he said, adding to that the situations get far more dangerous for drivers traveling as fast as 70 mph on interstates.

In those types of situations when a driver may be caught in a squall, Sosnowski said, the best defense is to "wait it out" by exiting the highway or taking secondary roads where driving at a slow speed is safer. The problem on interstates, he said, is the pressure drivers feel to drive at a high speed no matter the weather conditions.

Heavy snow and gusty winds swept through swaths of the northern U.S. on Feb. 18, causing whiteout conditions as a clipper system headed toward the Northeast.

"It is the driver’s responsibility to check weather forecasts not only at the starting and endpoints of their trip but [also] at points along the way," Sosnowski said, as snow squall events are properly forecast and communicated with NWS alerts and on-road signage. The AccuWeather app provides users with breaking updates on NWS weather alerts, oftentimes faster than the NWS is able to disseminate them.

"Motorists need to understand that most of the time the interstates are a safe way to travel," he said. "When there is heavy rain or snow and ice occurring, there are better, safer choices, because of the high travel speeds involved."

In recent years, that dangerous recipe has led to devastating accidents and pileups in areas around the country. A 2021 snow squall in Wisconsin spelled disaster on Interstate 41 near the area of Slinger, involving nearly 50 total vehicles. Notably, the wintry burst occurred long after winter ended, on April 21.

One fatality was reported in a horrific pileup involving more than 48 vehicles on Interstate 41 in Slinger, Wisconsin, on April 21. Whiteout conditions made travel extremely dangerous.

In Pennsylvania, a noteworthy snow squall that occurred in mid-February triggered multiple accidents in Schuylkill County, including one string of crashes that involved more than a dozen vehicles.

Apart from those wrecks and several other minor accidents on the road, the region impacted by the squall line, which extended from points as far west as Milwaukee clear to the Eastern Seaboard, escaped the incident without suffering any tragedies.

But for many areas, such as major Northeast cities like Boston, the snow squall left its mark. Dramatic images of the squall's 10-minute whiteout won't be forgotten any time soon -- particularly since they were immortalized on social media.

This time-lapse of #Boston during a snow squall is simply amazing. Check it out! pic.twitter.com/A57aRfjkpk
— Sarah Wroblewski (@sarahwroblewski) February 20, 2022

More to see:

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Video of FedEx driver really delivers some winter comedy

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