Cold Grips Rockies and Northern Plains

Temperatures plunged well below zero and combined with blowing snow, sending residents across the Rockies and northern Plains scrambling for wool sweaters and parkas. The mercury in thermometers in Casper, Wyo., hit 19 degrees below zero, shattering the town’s record for the date of zero degrees, set in 1995. Parts of North Dakota also stayed in the single digits, and icy temperatures dipped as far south as Colorado, Nebraska and Iowa. Icy roads in Colorado led to dozens of traffic accidents and at least five deaths, officials said. In Scottsbluff, Neb., the wind and snow cut visibility to a quarter of a mile and about two-thirds of the state was under a blanket of snow.