A video taken by a meteorologist in South Dakota and posted to social media on Wednesday shows twenty seconds of a frightening drive through a heavy blizzard.
A thick grey fills the view in the footage as Matthew Dux, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Sioux Falls, drives down a road, street lights, road signs, and other vehicles only appearing at close quarters.
“It is not great at all out there!” Dux said in the Twitter post accompanying the video, which he said was taken south of the Sioux Falls airport. “Far too many people on the roads. No lights on, driving way too fast.”
In another Twitter post, Dux posted a video of the snowfall coming down over houses and a children’s swing set and slide, saying it showed large flakes falling, with visibility at times less than 100 feet (30.5 metres).
The Sioux Falls weather service reported a new record of snowfall on December 23, with 2.8 inches. The previous record was 2.6 inches set back in 1987, the service said, predicting dangerously cold wind chills on Thursday.
“DO NOT TRAVEL!” was Dux’s firm warning to others caught in the inclement weather.
By Nur-Azna Sanus