The onset of snowy weather over the weekend kept the Nebraska State Patrol Troop D on the move, said Capt. Jim Parish.
Troopers responded to 24 accidents over the weekend, but none were larger than the 14-vehicle pile-up between Gothenburg and Cozad that shut eastbound I-80 traffic down for eight hours.
At approximately 12:30 p.m., an eastbound semi tractor-trailer passed a long line of other semis, Parish said.
"The snow was fluffy and it kicked up in the passing semi's wake, causing a whiteout," he said. "The lead semi slowed down and the trailing semis could not stop in time."
Several of the semis jackknifed as the pile-up built rapidly, Parish said. All told, 11 semis and three cars were involved in the wreck, which happened about four miles west of Cozad.
"Thankfully, because the roads were slick and the speeds were low, there were no serious injuries," Parish continued. "The first trooper on the scene told me he hadn't seen anything like it. He said, "I didn't even know where to start."
"It was a tangled-up mess," Parish concluded.
Nearly six inches of snow fell in the storm, according to the National Weather Service in North Platte.
Provided By: North Platte Bulletin
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