Snow causes frightening 50-car pileup in Michigan

It only took an inch or two of the snowy stuff to send as many as 50 vehicles off US-131 in Michigan on Friday.

The accidents shut down both the northbound and southbound lanes.

The early pictures, GIFs and videos are, in a word, bad.

Weather.com senior meteorologist Nick Wiltgen said westerly crosswinds were to blame.

“Bands of lake-effect snow had developed in that area along with westerly winds of 20 to 30 mph, which would be a crosswind on Route 131,” he said. “Some of the heavier snow bands were leading to reports of quarter-mile visibility. Temperatures were around 27 degrees.”

80+ car pileup in West Michigan on US-131. Only 1-2" of snow. This is moving south. Please be careful tonight. pic.twitter.com/D0WueWnZwP — Matt Rudkin WSBT (@MattRudkinWSBT) December 18, 2015

It appears a number of drivers are trying to avoid US-131. This is just west on 10 Mile. Ice and more backups. pic.twitter.com/P6LseJlgRV — Evan Dean (@_EvanDean) December 18, 2015

MDOT: Up to 50 vehicles involved in US-131 pileup near Cedar Springs: https://t.co/f3saidzUqy pic.twitter.com/LDBpmEqasI — WOOD TV8 (@WOODTV) December 18, 2015

Dozens slide off, wreck on US-131. This is the highway at Indian Lakes. Via #ReportIt. Be careful! #TrafficAlert pic.twitter.com/Tf1NKMXqpX — Leon Hendrix (@LeonHendrix) December 18, 2015