“We have a tow ban in place,” said Webster County Sheriff Luke Fleener on Sunday afternoon. “Stay home and don’t travel. Our deputies are having trouble getting to stranded motorists due to the blowing snow. The county road crews have been sent home for now.”

A deputy in Hamilton County was hit while responding to a multi-vehicle pileup on Interstate 35 at the U.S. Highway 20 interchange. According to Sheriff Alex Pruismann, the deputy was not injured, but the vehicle was heavily damaged.

“Bad roads, atrocious winds, and visibility that can go from poor to dangerous in seconds, this is not the time to be out,” said Pruismann. “Please stay home if you can. A sincere thank you to all emergency personnel and tow operators who are out there answering the call and keeping others safe despite these conditions.”

Interstate 35 was later closed from Ames to Clear Lake for most of the afternoon.

-Submitted photo
A Hamilton County deputy was hit Sunday while responding to a multi-vehicle pileup at Interstate 35 and U.S. Highway 20. According to Hamilton County Sheriff Alex Pruismann, the deputy was not injured, but the vehicle was heavily damaged.

Webster County Secondary Roads pulled all of its plows before noon due to zero visibility from the strong winds.

“Visibility was near zero,” said Webster County Engineer Jamie Johll. “Having plows out would have been dangerous for my employees but also for the traveling public. There wasn’t much new snow falling or drifting, it was just blowing snow creating whiteout conditions. We would have been more of a hindrance to traffic than a help.”

Travel advisories were issued asking residents to stay home and a tow ban was put into place in Webster County due to the zero visibility conditions.

Just before 2 p.m. Sunday, Webster County and the surrounding area were added to a blizzard warning by the National Weather Service in Des Moines. The warning, along with zero visibility conditions, was anticipated to last into Monday morning.