A powerful bomb cyclone unleashed a ferocious mix of snow, rain, and wind across the central United States on Wednesday and was blamed for a crash that killed a Colorado State Patrol trooper. More than 1, 300 flights had been canceled at Denver International Airport, where wind gusts of 80 mph were reported Wednesday morning. All runways at the airport were closed around early afternoon and remained closed in the evening. About 3, 000 flights have been canceled across the country, according to flightaware.com. Late Wednesday, about 111, 000 Denver area residents were without power, down from 246, 000 in the afternoon.

Interstates were shut down, most schools were closed and many businesses declared a snow day. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis declared a state of emergency in the evening, activating the State National Guard for search and rescue missions. Earlier in the day cpl. Daniel Groves was killed at interstate 76 after a driver lost control of his vehicle in a storm and hit him. Groves had been helping another driver who slid off the highway, the state patrol said.

In addition to road closures in Colorado and Wyoming, the Nebraska State Patrol closed Interstate 80 from the Wyoming border east to North Platte, as well as all state highways in the Nebraska Panhandle. Officials ordered flooding evacuations in areas including Cedar Rapids and Belgrade, The Omaha World-Herald reported, as well as low lying parts of Randolph and Pierce. This is a very epic cyclone, said Greg Carbin, chief of forecast operations for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Weather Prediction Center. We’re looking at something that will go down in the history books. It could grow in the worst storm of its kind in 35 or 40 years, he said.

The winter storm will slowly pull away from Colorado overnight, the National Weather Service said, and has dropped between 4 and 10 centimeters in most of the state’s northeast plains. After a rainy early morning in Denver, conditions deteriorated rapidly, and by 11 a.m., most roads were snow covered and flakes were whipping in the wind. By noon, a fierce storm was rattling signs and rocking cars. Roads become treacherous, and two-wheel drive sedans struggled to climb up anything resembling a hill, their tires spinning fruitlessly. They predicted a snowstorm, and that’s what we’re having, said server Rindi Gray, 48, as she took a break from shoveling the pavement outside My Brother’s Bar, which boasts some of Denver’s best cheeseburgers, but expected to close early because of the storm.

Across the city, workers struggled in vain to keep sidewalks and walkways clear. Wrapped in a plastic poncho, fluttering loudly in the wind, Matt Krueger, 36, pushed snow from the sidewalk, while more blew in right behind him. They told us to clear a path, but it’s just gonna get snowed over again, he sighed. Authorities asked drivers to stay off the road.

Farther south, about 55, 000 clients were without power in Texas Wednesday night, down from nearly 75, 000 clients earlier in the day. While not a tropics system, winds will rival what is seen in a Category 1 hurricane, weathermodels.com meteorologist Ryan maue said. Bomb cyclones – sometimes called winter hurricanes – are storms that strengthen unusually quickly. The worst weather hit the Plains, from Texas up to the Dakotas. We expect a significant blizzard to unfold with winds doubtless to approach cyclone force, significant snow, and big drifts, in step with AccuWeather specializer Alex Sosnowski. Blizzard warnings persisted in portions of Colorado, Wyoming, the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, and Minnesota late Wednesday.

The National Meteorological Service warned of the impossible travel conditions. You risk becoming stuck if you try to travel through these conditions, he said. Wild, destructive winds gusting as high as 100 mph hit Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, and Colorado. Blowing dust will reduce visibility to less than one mile at times. The Weather Service workplace in Midland/Odessa, Texas, aforementioned weekday can be the windiest day in years. High winds might end up stretching over one million sq miles of the central states with this storm, AccuWeather’s Sosnowski said. In the Upper Midwest and around the Great Lakes, just as much as 3 inches of drenching rain on top of mounds of already fallen snow and sodden soil can lead to flooding.

The greatest risk of flooding can have a bent to be in urban and poor emptying areas wherever piles of snow are blocking storm drains, in step with AccuWeather specializer Kristina Pydynowski. Many rivers in the Upper Midwest are likely to reach flood stage over the next several days, the weather service said. After two tornados were reported in New Mexico and Texas on Tuesday, more severe weather was forecast for Wednesday in the South. Portions of Arkansas, Alabama, and Tennessee are at greatest risk for tornadoes and large hail, the Storm Prediction Center said. The weather channel named the winter storm Ulmer. No different personal weather company, nor the National Weather Service, use that name. Whilst the central United States the storm, both coasts will see mostly quiet time this week.