Dozens Of Vehicles Involved In Pileups Under Whiteout Conditions

As if the polar vortex isn’t enough, sudden whiteouts called snow squalls are causing problems for the Northeast. A snow squall is an intense, short-lived burst of heavy snowfall accompanied by gusty wind, according to the National Weather Service. Squalls can happen when there is no winter storm. The phenomenon can create deadly highway conditions, as it suddenly reduces visibility and creates slick roads. It can “make roads a sheet of ice in minutes,” AccuWeather chief meteorologist, Bernie Rayno, says. Snow squalls typically last less than an hour and might only leave behind a moderate amount of snow. Wednesday, more than two dozen vehicles in central Pennsylvania were involved in a chain-reaction crash during a snow squall.