NASA Captures Image Of Midwest 'Whiteout'
CHICAGO (CBS) -- When one looks at a photo like this, it makes one feel really, really small.
It also makes one feel like they aren't alone.
What you are seeing is a NASA satellite image taken on the afternoon of Jan. 6.
Blowing snow and viciously cold temperatures created a literal "whiteout" over the Great Lakes. That's hundreds of miles of snow, ice, and cold.
The average temperature across the region, according to NASA was 20 below zero, with wind chills near 50 below.
Closer to home, major highways in Indiana were shut down for about two days. Interstates in central and southern Illinois were nearly impassable, and hundreds of drivers had to be rescued.
Even Amtrak trains, with 8,000 horsepower engines, couldn't get though the drifts.