Multiple vehicles were involved in a crash on I-75 south of Cincinnati, Ohio, on Jan. 2, 2012, during the late morning hours. (Image courtesy of WLWT.com)

Snow squalls and a rapid freezeup contributed to multiple accidents from the Midwest to the interior Northeast Monday and today.

These included nasty, multiple-car pileups and injuries on Interstate 75 in northern Kentucky, Interstate 80 in western and central Pennsylvania and Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, Ill., on Monday and other incidents on I-70 in western Maryland and I-81 in northwestern Virginia today.

There were also hundreds of other incidents Monday ranging from secondary roads in the countryside to intersections in towns and major cities spanning Monday morning to this midday.

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In the weather situation Monday, Jan. 2, 2012, bands of lake-effect snow, snow squalls and flurries were affecting areas from the western Great Lakes to the Appalachians.

In many cases at the scene of the accidents, the newly fallen snow partially melted and refroze on its own or melted as vehicles drove over the snow then refroze into a sheet of clear ice.

According to Winter Weather Expert Brian Wimer, “It is more common to have this sort of thing during the fall when the first snow falls on warm roads.”

Colder air was moving in Monday, and that caused untreated wet areas to freeze. In some locations, the rapid freezeup occurred near or shortly after sunset.

“The lame winter up until now also played a role in the road conditions,” Wimer said.

Wimer was referring to the lack of salt/chemical residue due to the lack of snowfall events until this point.

“Usually by now,we have have several major winter precipitation events that require heavy chemical treatment,” Wimer added.

Prolonged warm weather leads to warmer roads and higher evaporation rates, requiring little or no chemical treatment. Multiple rain events through December washed any traces of ice-melting chemicals off the roads.

Three Winter Tricks

Lake-effect snow, snow squalls and flurries are three of winter’s most often misunderstood weather phenomena. While the setup and dates for these events are rarely missed in advance by meteorologists, pinpointing exactly where these individual winter showers will be at a certain time is extremely difficult.

Shifting bands of lake-effect snow (streets of snow) are common up to dozens of miles downwind of the Great Lakes. Essentially a driver can go from sunny or clear, dry ground conditions to a whiteout with snowcovered roads in a matter of minutes while progressing at highway speeds.

Snow squalls are essentially the winter equivalent of summer season thunderstorms, without the thunder and lightning in most cases. These small towers of heavy, blinding snow can occur well away from the Great Lakes and the Appalachians, and they can pop up and fall apart at random.

Flurries are generally a non-accumulating light snow shower. However, they can be briefly result in low visibility for a few moments but barely dust the ground or make surfaces wet.

Stay Alert, Slow Down or Stay Home

Talk to police detectives and they will tell you that in many cases during snow, ice, rain and fog, accidents occur because people were driving too fast for conditions.

Driving is a privilege and demands complete attention of the operator of the vehicle. It is the responsibility of each driver to maintain control of his or her vehicle at all times.

People need to be more aware of the potentially changing weather conditions as they are driving.

“The weather may have been fine where and when they left, but at this time of the year, conditions can change rapidly heading cross town or cross country,” Wimer said.

A basic rule in meteorology also applies to the road: Weather varies over distance. This is not only true when a large storm is affecting the area but also in a pattern favoring isolated summertime thunderstorms and wintertime snow showers.

People driving any distance should check on weather forecasts for points along the way before beginning their route to help avoid travel problems.