A winter storm crossing through Kansas has closed Interstate 70 west of the Manhattan exit, as freezing rain is falling across the area.
Parts of Topeka and Shawnee County started seeing sleet early Saturday afternoon, with forecasters predicting the Topeka area could accumulate up to a foot of snow before the blizzard-like conditions end Monday morning. Saturday is expected to mostly consist of sleet and freezing rain.
Freezing fog is seen on Interstate 70 just west of Tecumseh early Saturday afternoon. Westbound I-70 was closed shortly afternoon 3 p.m. at mile marker 313.
Interstate 70 closed west of Manhattan exit
Shortly after 3 p.m. Saturday, the Kansas Department of Transportation closed westbound I-70 at mile marker 313, near the eastern Manhattan exit. The closure was announced on the department’s KanDrive website and app, which said the closure was due to “icy roads.”
At 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Trooper Ben Gardner, of the Kansas Highway Patrol, posted on his X account that there were already a “significant number of crashes” in the area.
“These incidents include passenger cars, semi-truck rollovers, and even a fire truck that rolled over — thankfully, the first responders are okay,” Gardner said.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: I-70 shut down west of Manhattan as freezing rain turns roads to ice