Great Plains news stories on Newser

6 Dead as Blizzard Rages in Great Plains

Kate Schwartz — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 07:52:50 CST

It's not the kind of White Christmas most people had in mind: Six have died in a blizzard that began yesterday and has been raging from eastern New Mexico to Kansas. Highways have been shut down in five states as the storm moves deeper into the Great Plains today. The...

Rural Share of US Population Hits Record Low

Rob Quinn — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 04:20:05 CDT

Small-town and rural America is fading away as the US becomes a nation of suburbanites and city dwellers, according to the latest census figures. The share of Americans who live in rural areas—including towns with fewer than 50,000 people that are out of commuting range of metropolitan areas—...

US Faces Fresh Tornado Threat

Matt Cantor — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 09:37:05 CDT

Some 250 tornadoes wreaked havoc in the US last week, and—brace yourself—another possible wave of tornadoes may hit this week. Last week’s tornadoes killed at least 47 people across six states; now, a storm system heading east from the Rockies is threatening new snow, flooding, hail, and more...

Arctic Blasts Drop US Big Chill to -37

Mary Papenfuss — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 04:14:00 CST

A large chunk of the US was in the deep freeze yesterday, with temperatures plunging below freezing to as low as -37 in Minnesota's hapless International Falls, the town's coldest day since 1911. Temperatures dove from the Plains, Midwest and Northeast to Florida, giving citrus growers the shivers. Jacksonville was...

Emergency Declared in Plains Blizzard

Mary Papenfuss — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 03:19:00 CST

Schools were shut down and major highways closed, stranding some drivers for 24 hours, as South Dakota was buried by up to four feet of snow in the first major snowstorm of the season yesterday. "We can't see a thing in many areas where we're out searching for people," said...

Gas Prices Hit Hardest in Rural Areas—not Suburbs

Dustin Lushing — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 08:40:00 CDT

Gas prices, which hit an all-time-high average of $4 a gallon over the weekend, are causing more pain in rural America than anywhere else, with motorists in the South, Southwest, and the upper Great Plains the hardest hit. With relatively low wages and high use of pickup trucks and vans,...

Storms Pummel Midwest, Scare Visitors

Rob Quinn — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 02:26:00 CDT

Severe weather lashed the Great Plains yesterday after forecasters warned of a possible tornado outbreak as bad as the 1974 one that spawned 39 twisters, AP reports. At least four tornadoes touched down in Kansas, causing widespread damage and spooking a pair of runaway circus elephants. Heavy rains caused rivers...

Pumas Prowl Midwest

Kevin Spak — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 19:42:00 CST

Pumas, normally prowlers of the Rocky Mountains, are slowly pushing east, ecologists say, which has led to a rash of sightings throughout the Midwest. Wisconsin just had its first confirmed puma sighting in over a century, and since 1990 the big cats have cropped up in Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri and...

Deadly Storm Batters Plains

Jim O'Neill — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 07:13:02 CST

A deadly storm packing a one-two punch of heavy snow and high winds delivered a pounding to the Plains, making travel treacherous on a busy pre-holiday weekend. Blowing snow dropped visibility to near zero at times, causing at least five deaths in a string of multi-vehicle crashes that closed portions...