Such conditions resulted in a pileup on Interstate 70 last week in western Kansas involving dozens of cars and trucks that left eight people dead. Blinding dust also prompted New Mexico's transportation department to close Interstate 25 from the Colorado border southwest to Las Vegas, New Mexico.

Unusually vicious and damaging weather across multiple U.S. states spawned violent tornadoes, blinding dust storms and fast-moving wildfires over the weekend, leaving at least 39 people dead. In the latest tally of the destruction,

Residents pounded by unusually vicious weather across parts of the U.S. surveyed damage Sunday from violent tornadoes, high winds and blinding dust storms that decimated homes and other structures and left at least 35 people dead.