To the west, Denver will begin to warm up finally this weekend but that comes in the wake of Arctic cold that saw the Mile High City see high temperatures in the teens on Thursday and a low temperature down to -16. Just a bit further east on the plains, Kansas and Nebraska were similarly cold and were forced to cope with snow and ice that turned roadways treacherous.
In the Midwest, the cold weather had tragic results. On Thursday, an icy highway caused a tractor trailer to lose control and swerve into oncoming traffic impacting a bus transporting disabled adults. Three passengers and the bus driver were killed, six other passengers were injured as was the truck driver.
The nation’s railway system was impacted as Amtrak was forced to cut its daily train between Chicago and Denver on Friday because it could not make it through snow drifts in Nebraska. Passengers on the train Thursday arrived in Denver a day late after having been stuck on the plains for 23 hours. The California Zephyr from California to Chicago finally arrived Friday after being delayed 18 hours.
The southern part of the nation found itself gripped in the cold and unprepared to deal with it. Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and even Florida saw temperatures dipping into record setting territory. Shelters in the states were packed with the homeless seeking someplace warm to spend the nights.
