MINNEAPOLIS (NEWSnet/AP) — An ice storm in North Dakota and  blizzard conditions in Colorado caused hundreds of airport delays and cancellations Tuesday in the central United States.

Denver International Airport had  more than 500 flight delays and 23 cancellations as of Tuesday afternoon, according to FlightAware.

Blizzard conditions on Colorado’s plains closed Interstate 70 eastbound from the outer edge of the Denver area to Kansas. Travelers were unable to head westbound into Colorado from Kansas on the highway, because of the threat posed by high winds.

According to National Weather Service, it’s considered a blizzard when winds exceed 35 miles per hour for three hours or more, with considerable blowing snow and visibility down to less than a quarter-mile.

Blizzard warnings were in effect mid-Tuesday for western portions of South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas, along with eastern portions of Colorado and Wyoming. Ice storm warnings and winter weather advisories remained in place in South Dakota, North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota.

On Christmas Day, one person was killed and three others were injured in Kansas, when the driver of a pickup truck lost control on snow and ice and collided head-on with a sport utility vehicle 5 miles west of Larned, according to the State Patrol. The woman killed in the crash was identified as Evelyn Reece, 86, of Wichita.

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