NORFOLK, Va. — Roads in Virginia and North Carolina remained treacherous Thursday as unusually heavy snow led to hundreds of accidents, including crashes on an interstate that involved more than 50 vehicles. Meanwhile, a polar vortex sent temperatures plunging from the Northern Great Plains all the way to Louisiana.

Two separate collisions stopped traffic on Interstate 40 in Orange County, North Carolina, on Wednesday afternoon and the stopped vehicles were struck from behind, including a tractor trailer that hit a passenger vehicle, causing a fatality, according to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol. A total of 53 vehicles were involved in 12 crashes in the area, the highway patrol said. The driver of the tractor trailer was charged with misdemeanor death by motor vehicle and exceeding a safe speed for conditions.

The highway patrol responded to nearly 1,200 collisions statewide on Wednesday, according to Sgt. Christopher Knox. Crashes on Wednesday also closed portions of Interstate 95 and I-85 near Raleigh, North Carolina.

— The Associated Press