Some 40 Vehicles Collide on Snowy Pennsylvania Highway

A collision involving as many as 40 vehicles closed a portion of Interstate 81 in Pennsylvania on Monday, according to the Schuylkill County Office of Emergency Management.

An out of control tractor-trailer smashed into a large dump truck turning it nearly 180 degrees, another large truck spewed black smoke and orange flames into the air and an SUV struck a passenger car sending the sedan spinning, narrowly missing its driver who stood on the shoulder of Pennsylvania highway shrouded in snow and fog.

The images were captured in video uploaded to social media on Monday. Officials in northeastern Pennsylvania's Schuylkill County said a snow squall swept through Minersville around 11 a.m. ET.

In a dramatic video posted to Facebook, people off camera can be heard yelling as the cascade of crashes unfolds with multiple vehicles colliding in less than a minute. The person who posted the video did not immediately respond to requests seeking additional information.

There were no immediate reports of serious injuries.

The National Weather Service had warned of "numerous brief heavy snow squalls with very poor visibility."

"The squalls will quickly reduce the visibility to under one-half of a mile and coat the roads with snow," forecasters said, urging drivers to get off the road if possible or turn on hazard lights "and gradually slow down to avoid a chain reaction vehicular accident."

Mike Colbert, a forecaster with the National Weather Service office in State College, said the weather service just started issuing warnings for snow squalls a few years ago, and pileups of the kind being reported were the reason they began doing so.

"They are very heavy snow showers where if you are driving into them, you can go from partly cloudy or sunny skies into an instant blizzard in a matter of seconds. That’s why they are so dangerous," he said.

The (Pottsville) Republican-Herald reported snowy conditions were hampering the ability of firetrucks to ascend Route 901 to reach the scene.