The Midwest will be hit with two rounds of snow on Tuesday through Sunday with a Category 1 hurricane-like system moving east and affecting the Lower Mississippi River Valley
All 11 Western states are under winter weather alerts Wednesday, with about half a million people along the higher elevations of the Rockies under high wind alerts as gusts could reach Category 1 hurricane strength. Already, electricity has been knocked out in parts of Oregon, Washington and California, according to PowerOutage.us.
The storm has brought heavy snow to parts of California that are rarely seen. By Saturday Mount Baldy could get as much as 4.5 feet of snow.
The same storm system is moving east and is expected to produce a significant damaging wind event across the central US on Sunday. More than two dozen million people are under threat of violent storms from western Texas to Illinois on Sunday.
The threat does, however, strengthen as the system heads east Tuesday, likely impacting a large swath of the Lower Mississippi River Valley. Areas including Baton Rouge, New Orleans and Shreveport in Louisiana and Jackson, Mississippi, could see tornadoes, high wind gusts and damaging hail.
The storm releases its fury on the Midwest Tuesday through Thursday, with two rounds of snow. The first round on Tuesday will bring four to six inches of snow to much of the region.
The Sierra Nevada can get up to three feet of snow and create hazardous conditions with tree damage and white out conditions.
The storm made for icy and dangerous conditions on key roads in the state, with authorities closing down a long stretch of I-80 on Saturday due to blowing snow and near-zero visibility.
According to the forecaster at the National Weather Service office in Reno, the snow is more than twice the normal amount.
It feels like Christmas out here, that’s for sure. “It didn’t come with a lot of wind, and it stuck to everything. It’s like a picture postcard.”
The snow totals so far are impressive, but he is cautiously optimistic that this precipitation will put a big dent in the state’s drought.
The California Snow Storm that Were Buried: Snow on the Ski Resort in Olympic Valley, Calif. Earlier in the December 1st Snowfall
“We’re Buried,” the Palisades Tahoe Ski Resort wrote on its website Sunday, sharing photos of thick snow covering the ski resort in Olympic Valley, California.
This is definitely a storm to remember. We have gotten 7.5 feet of snow since December 1st. The amount of snow received in 24 hours was the 6th largest snowfall on record, and it happened in a single day.
California has been battered by storms this week, with damaging winds and flooding, and now another storm is expected to hit the West Coast this weekend.
The atmospheric river, a long, narrow region in the atmosphere which can carry hundreds of thousands of gallons of rain a day, sparked a series of storms that dumped snow on the mountains and shut down roads in the northern part of the state.
More than 15 million people in the West are under wind alerts from the National Weather Service through at least Tuesday evening as the storm system pushes inland.
There’s a high-wind warning in place for most of the Pacific Northwest, with winds between 35 to 45 mph and gusts up to 70 mph. In addition, wind advisories are also posted both in the Pacific Northwest as well as many other Western states.
“While these winds won’t be on the order of the previous/stronger system it really won’t take much to bring trees down given saturated conditions and weakened trees from the last event,” the weather service in San Francisco posted Friday.
The heat dome and the dry summers damage trees because it takes up too much of their energy to fight off pathogens.
The Fourth Rainy Day in Portland, Oregon, Expected to Last for Two Days and a Full 4 inches on Tuesday, January 26, 1996
The previous record for Portland was 1.08 inches, set on December 26, 1996. Monday was the third-rainiest December day on record in Portland.
Two major bouts of rain will impact the West Coast over the next few days. There will not be much of a break between the rain, snow and wind and the water will be there for a long time.
The weather service had warned Friday of possible overnight flash floods, landslides and mudslides in Los Angeles County near creeks, streams, urban areas, highways and areas that were burned by wildfires. The threat zone includes the downtown L.A., Hollywood and Beverly Hills areas.
It was the first of several storms expected in the next week. The current storm system is likely to be warmer and wet while next week’s storms will be cold, which will decrease snow levels in the mountains.
On Wednesday and Thursday, temperatures will run 30 to 40 degrees below normal for the northern Rockies and northern Plains, while temperatures run 20 to 30 degrees above normal for the Southeast and mid-Atlantic.
The heavier rain will hit southern California over the course of a day on Thursday. A widespread rain totals of 2 to 4 inches are likely, with greater amounts in the higher terrain.
That means New Year’s Eve celebrations Saturday will likely be dampened in New York City and Washington, DC. Los Angeles, too, is expected to ring in a soggy new year.
California Flood Watches, Warnings and Warnings for the weekend of Dec. 21 through Dec. 15. The Eleventh California Flood and Snowfall Event is Coming
More than 15 million people are subject to flood watches in California this weekend. There is also a slight-to-moderate risk of excessive rainfall across much of northern and central California Saturday and Sunday. It increases to a more widespread moderate risk by Monday.
Adding to the melting snow and flooding concern in Buffalo, New York, on Saturday, rain will also fall that day, heightening those concerns. Additional rain is expected early next week.
“The slight risk area mostly highlights places that are already high in soil moisture, burn scars and urban areas,” the Weather Prediction Center said.
Drivers were stuck in the middle of a storm and heavy mountain snow for nine hours after the section of I-70 was closed.
State police said five people were killed in Oregon, including a girl, when trees fell on passing vehicles.
There were multiple slide-offs of mud, rock and other materials across California on Friday as a series of storms that were expected to last through New Year’s Eve were already impacting the state.
Landslides already had closed routes in the San Francisco Bay Area, between Fremont and Sunol, as well as in Mendocino County near the unincorporated community of Piercy and in the Mendocino National Forest, where crews cleared debris into Friday night.
Humboldt County, where a 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck on Dec. 20, also saw roadways begin to flood, according to the National Weather Service’s Eureka office. The bridge that was temporarily closed last week may be closed again if the Eel River gets too high.
The American River is a place where many unhoused people live in and the fire officials planned to broadcast warnings from the helicopter and boat.
“Strong winds could cause tree damage and lead to power outages and high waves on Lake Tahoe may capsize small vessels,” the weather service in Reno said.
On the Sierra’s eastern front, flood watches and warnings were issued into the weekend north and south of Reno, Nevada, where minor to moderate flooding was forecast along some rivers and streams.
The Susan River is expected to rise from about 1.5 meters to a foot by Saturday and cause moderate flooding in the area.
California’s wettest three-day period on record: Poweroutage.com reveals rain is forecasting for the next five to 10 inches
Much more precipitation is needed to make a difference in California, despite the rain being welcomed. The past three years have been California’s driest on record.
There were 103,000 homes, businesses and other power customers without power across California and Nevada as of Sunday night, down from a high of more than 300,000 outages on Saturday, according to Poweroutage. US.
“Too many road closures to count at this point,” the weather agency in Sacramento said in an afternoon tweet. Residents in the unincorporated community of Wilton were warned that flooded roads could cut off access to leave the area.
Last week, San Francisco experienced its wettest 10-day period on record for downtown since 1871. So far they have had more than a foot of rain just since December 1, and the forecast calls for an additional 3 to 5 inches of rain in the next five days.
US Highway 101 – one of California’s most famous routes – was also temporarily closed in both directions in South San Francisco with California Highway Patrol reporting “water is not receding due to non-stop rainfall & high tides preventing the water to displace.”
Weather service meteorologist Courtney Carpenter said the storm could drop over an inch of rain in the Sacramento area before moving south. One ski resort south of Lake Tahoe closed chair lifts because of flooding and operational problems, and posted a photo on Twitter showing one lift tower and its empty chairs surrounded by water.
A map of precipitation was released by the agency showing a wide range of totals from less than an inch (2.54 centimeters) in some places to more than 5 inches (12.7 centimeters) in the Sierra foothills.
California Weather Outlook After a Wet and Wet Superfluid Decelerating Season: The First of a Long-Term Wet-Wet Winter Storms
The Stockton Police Department posted photos of a flooded railroad underpass and a car that appeared stalled in more than a foot (30 centimeters) of water.
It was the first of several storms that were expected to hit the state in a week. Hannah Chandler-Cooley said the weekend’s system was warm and wet, while this week’s storms will be cold.
California’s winter storms significantly improved the state’s surface drought conditions. Almost all of the state is currently in some sort of dry spell. Nearly 7 million Californians lived in the second-worst area of the worst drought three weeks ago, according to the most recent data. There was a number that has dropped to zero.
When the storm hit, many small communities in northern California were evacuated on New Year’s Eve due to high river water levels and flooded streets.
The Cosumnes and Mokelumne rivers and the Mormon Slough were all overflowing according to the National Weather Service. Flood warnings were issued for the southern Sacramento Valley and Sierra foothills.
Three communities near the city of Watsonville were also told to evacuate by the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office due to creek flooding, while the rising San Lorenzo River waters prompted evacuations in the communities of Paradise Park and Felton.
Sacramento Metropolitan Fire Dept. Deputy Fire Chief Brian Schamber: Flooding, Flooding and Debris Driven Vehicles in the Sacramento River
Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District crews were kept busy on Saturday, performing water rescues and responding to fallen trees on homes and cars, and to drivers whose vehicles became disabled after they drove through standing water, officials said.
The Amador County Sheriff’s Office shared an image of cars up to their doors in the floods, and said there were reports of flooding, mudslides and trees blocking roads.
Highway 50 was reopened just after midnight, hours after a section between Pollock Pines and Meyers was closed due to flooding from the American River, while another section was closed over Echo Summit for avalanche control work.
In the area of the National Weather Service, residents were advised to avoid travel due to the high winds that toppled trees and littered the roads with debris.
The county proclaimed a state of emergency, saying the atmospheric river has caused “significant transportation impacts, rising creek and river levels and flooding” in the Wilton area.
There was a possibility for snow up to 5 feet above 9,000 feet, the Weather Service said.
More than 4 feet (1.2 meters) of snow had accumulated in the high Sierra Nevada, and the Mammoth Mountain Ski Area said heavy, wet snow would cause major delays in chairlift openings. On Saturday, the resort closed lifts because of high winds, low visibility and ice.
The California Highway Patrol reported that driving conditions were dangerous, with dozens of vehicles stuck on the I-80 and county roads.
Aerial video from CNN affiliate KCRA showed cars submerged past their doorhandles in flood waters from Highway 99 and the Dillard Street area. Chris Schamber, a fire captain with the Cosumnes Fire Department, told the station “dozens upon dozens” of people had been rescued.
Overdue Storms and Flooding during the Pasadena Rose Parade: California’s First Day of a Winter Snowmass
With the region drying out on New Year’s Day and no rainfall expected during Monday’s Rose Parade in Pasadena, spectators began staking out their spots for the annual floral spectacle.
Three people died in the storms. A firefighter in Michigan died while working the downed power line, and a person in Minnesota died after being hit by a snowplow. Authorities in Portland, Oregon, said a person died of hypothermia.
On Sunday, the County of Sacramento issued an evacuate order for Point Pleasant because of imminent floods, which would become dangerous after the sun goes down.
Flooding from the Mokelumne River and the Cosumnes River could reach these areas in the middle of the night.
People in Northern California are being warned to expect the worst in the coming year as they recover from floods and mudslides.
“The longevity and intensity of rain, combined with the cumulative effect of successive heavy rain events dating back to the end of December, will lead to widespread and potentially significant flood impacts,” the Weather Prediction Center said Sunday morning.
As of midday Monday local time, around 39,000 electricity accounts were without power in California, with another 20,000 in Nevada, according to PowerOutage.us.
Mary Spencer-Gode and other residents of Sacramento gaped at the damage on their street where a massive elm tree fell on New Year’s Eve.
She told Capital Public Radio that the wind was crazy. We turned off the TV so we could hear it and I heard a loud noise in the kitchen that moved the house.
California’s West Coast Floods, Flooding, and Floods are Predicted by a High-Speed Atmospheric Storm
“It’s just a narrow area of high moisture that gets transported away from the tropics towards the higher latitudes,” often before a cold front arrives, as NWS senior forecaster Bob Oravec recently told NPR.
A good majority of the precipitation on the west coast occurs during the colder season when atmospheric rivers are the most frequent source of precipitation.
It can be very difficult to get more water out of the Mississippi River than from a single atmospheric river. The winds of the systems are very dangerous. The sequoia that was the Pioneer Cabin Tree was destroyed in Calaveras Big Trees State Park five years ago.
The weather service has been warning of the storm for a few days now and said it could affect land as early as Tuesday night. As of Wednesday afternoon, the system was still approaching the West Coast, and they had predicted it would move slowly.
The 12th atmospheric river that is anticipated to bring a new round of heavy snow and rain to the state is still reeling from an onslaught of powerful storms.
“The most intense part of this weather event will occur later this evening and last through noon Thursday,” the NWS office in Los Angeles said. “A slow moving cold front will entrain the moisture from a moderate atmospheric river.”
“We’re moving from extreme dry to extreme floods and burn scar areas, and other sensitive terrain, could become the sites of dangerous mud slides,” said state Water Resources Director Karla Nemeth.
The NWS said on Wednesday that the system was “undergoing bombogenesis” off of California’s northern coast.
San Francisco Department of Emergency Management’s Executive Director Mary Ellen Carrollton said that flooding impacts had already been reported. We are seeing some of the sinkholes on our streets. We’re seeing mudslides – nothing significant at this point. We’re going to see more of those conditions with the amount of rain we get and the time in between.
It’s all an example of how human-caused climate change is transforming water systems around the world, cranking up temperatures and making droughts more severe and frequent.
As wells run dry and reservoirs drain, Julie Kalansky, a climate scientist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, said these storms are desperately needed more than ever to alleviate the drought, despite the hazards they bring in some areas.
They can be very beneficial if they bring so much of the water supply to California, or if they can also be a good source of water in the state. “But when the duration becomes too long, they become too strong, they come back-to-back, and the landscape doesn’t get an opportunity to absorb all the rain, it can lead to this flooding.”
According to a study written in 2022, climate change will cause a megaflood in the state of California in the next four decades, making it the worst storm anyone has ever experienced.
There have been some hints of extreme precipitation even in the middle of a period characterized by severe and persistent dry conditions, but we have not seen the mega floods.
“We anticipate that this may be one of the most challenging and impactful series of storms to touch down in California in the last five years,” said Nancy Ward, the new director of the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, at a late-morning news conference about the threat.
The weather experts warned people in their coverage areas on Wednesday to be ready for potential power outages, as well as for travel to be at risk due to fallen trees and power lines.
California Flood Warning in the Presence of a Low-Pressure Heavy Rains and Snow on Saturday. And on Saturday, May 19th, in Santa Barbara County
The low-pressure system was expected to bring widespread rain and snow in southern Nevada by Saturday afternoon and across northwest Arizona Saturday night and Sunday morning, the National Weather Service office in Las Vegas said.
Solum told CNN that additional rain on already saturated soils will contribute to additional flooding concerns in the state. Mud and rock slides will continue to be a risk across the state.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a statewide emergency declaration earlier Wednesday, clearing the way to quickly disseminate aid for those affected by the storm – the latest in series that have been wreaking havoc on the drought-plagued state.
State officials said that firefighters and rescue equipment were close to burn scar areas in seven counties, as well as five other counties which were at risk of flooding from the storm.
According to the state, the scene of a mud slide in Santa Barbara last year that killed 23 people and caused more than 100 homes to be torn off their foundations is among areas that have been ordered to evacuate.
Das Williams is the supervisor of the first district in Santa Barbara County. If you live in that red zone, the one thing you should have learned is that it is better to play it safe than to disobey the order.
Officials in Monterey County also started setting up evacuation points and emergency shelters ahead of the storm’s arrival, according to the sheriff’s Facebook page.
Rockslides forced the closure of a long stretch of coastal Highway 1 in both directions from Ragged Point in San Luis Obispo County to south of Big Sur in Monterey County, according to the California Department of Transportation.
A PG&E Emergency Plan for Oakland, Calif., During a Superfluid Monstrial with a “Pent Pineapple Express”
The mayor of San Francisco says floods are inevitable as the city is under a flood warning.
San Francisco fire officials said a family was trapped in a car and were rescued from it by a crew working to remove a large tree.
There were reports of glass falling from a high rise in Fox Plaza, but no one was hurt. “It is unknown at this time if this is wind-related – highly possible though,” the San Francisco Fire Department said in a tweet.
Across the bay, Oakland city officials declared a local emergency Wednesday, bracing for storm damage on Oakland roads, flooding and potential threats to public safety.
California’s largest gas and electric utility company, Pacific Gas and Electric, reported the storm was damaging its equipment and causing widespread outages Wednesday evening.
There are a lot of trees falling into our lines as well as other impacts on our power system. “We’ve mobilized for a major repair and restoration effort.”
Hundreds of crews are staged around the Bay Area region, and some are from Southern California as well, according to the vice president of the region.
Johnson said that it would be hard for crews to get to areas where they need to perform maintenance due to the expected storm saturate roads and down trees.
“This is definitely going to be ranked up there with one of the storms that I’m going to remember,” Ashley Helmetag, a meteorologist, said in a Facebook video on PG&E’s page.
The intense weather was brought on by a “potent Pineapple Express,” the National Weather Service warned this week, using the term for an atmospheric river that brings moisture-rich low pressure waves from around the Hawaiian Islands to the Pacific Coast.
Loss of Landscape Trees in the Bay Area After a Tree Falling on a Californian Tree During a Flood and a Woman Decaying onto a Honda
In San Francisco, the winds took a mature landscaping tree off its base, dropped it onto a Honda, trapping a family in their car next to the library’s main branch. The firefighters who rescued the family reported that they were ok.
“Fallen trees are in the Bay Area with this storm, and power lines have been taken down,” according to the transit agency.
The young child was killed when a tree fell on the house in Sonoma County in Northern California.
The police said a woman died when she crashed her car into a pole on a partially flooded road in Northern California. Police explained that the driver hydroplaned and lost control of the vehicle before hitting a utility pole.
Emergency officials are asking people to stay off the roads. Along with flash floods and mudslides, roads were littered with broken trees, power lines and other debris. At higher elevations, some highways have closed due to whiteout conditions.
The officials in Santa Cruz County said that they are seeing major damage from the storm, noting that huge waves and high tides damaged piers along the coastline.
In Sausalito, rough conditions dislodged the city’s landmark bronze sea lion sculpture from its base; officials say it “is still attached by several bolts” and can be repaired.
The ‘Staw Parade’: High-Energy Weather Conditions and Atmospheric Floods in San Francisco
“Meteorologists sometimes call us the’storm parade’ because we have a series of atmospheric rivers back to back,” Stark said. We’re looking at having another series of storms this weekend, and possibly into next week.
In nearby San Francisco, some saw localized flooding, mudslides and sinkholes as of Wednesday evening, said Mary Ellen Carol, executive director of the city’s emergency management department.
A mixture of rain and snow is expected to hit some places this weekend and there are likely to be weather advisories issued for them. Here’s what’s forecast for millions:
Even a 40 mph wind can do damage when the ground is so saturated from record rainfall earlier this week and the cumulative effect of the new rainfall expected this weekend.
The rain over the weekend renewed flood concerns for local streams, creeks and rivers. The Colgan Creek, Berryessa creek, Mark West creek, and Green Valley creek have flood stages that are expected to be in the next few days.
There are guidelines for the overall forecast that are given by the Climate Prediction Center in regards to El Nio and La Nia.
In the past three months, Oregon has been slightly dryer than normal while California has been slightly wet. There are always more factors at play than just El Nio and La Nia patterns.
During El Nios andLa Nias, atmospheric rivers can form and can be influenced by the larger patterns in the Pacific.
Weather Patterns in the State of California After a Supersolar Outburst during the 2017 Incipient Eleven Degrees of Rain
The entire season is the reason why the forecast patterns are not meant to be used on a day-to-day basis, says Professor Michael Tippett of Columbia University. This is why it’s important to research the patterns.
“There is an element of randomness that is not explained by the patterns,” Tippett told CNN. It might be helpful to understand why the other year is different.
Michael Anderson told a news briefing that officials were closely monitoring Monday’s incoming storm and another behind it, and were keeping an eye on three other systems farther out in the Pacific.
The city’s communications infrastructure, cellular and internet, is underground so “as we get more inundation from the rain, we’re seeing more failure around those, what we call lifeline systems” for power and communication, said Carroll.
This has led the prediction center to issue a Level 3 out of 4 risk for excessive rainfall for over 15 million people in the state on Monday including those in San Francisco, Sacramento, Monterey, Fresno, and Oxnard. The prediction center wrote in the discussion Sunday that a Level 4 high risk notice may become necessary on Monday if the forecast guidance continues to increase rainfall totals.
The weather service office in Reno said thatValley areas could see gusts as high as 50 mph with gusts over 60 mph in wind prone areas. Sierra crest wind gusts will probably approach 150 mph when the strong subtropical jet flies overhead Monday. remains a big concern, especially for high profile vehicles Monday.”
As the storm pushes farther inland, “Localized areas of 5+ feet (of snow) possible along the Sierra crest west of Lake Tahoe. Waves up to 4 feet on Lake Tahoe,” the weather service added.
The weather service in San Francisco said that there is high confidence that the pattern will continue through the next couple of weeks. It is not certain if much rain above normal will fall, but the continuing of saturated soils could pose a hazard into the third week of January.
We have seen similar things in the past, where the growth of spring vegetation around the state is increased because we get more rain, but when we don’t get as much rain, the growth dries out and we end up with additional fuels.
The amount of ground water is more important than the amount at the end of the winter, according to a climate scientist.
“One of the primary drivers of wildfire re-burns in California was the moisture flux from plants during the late spring to early summer months,” Solander said, noting that he will have to go back and check the “moisture content of plants across the state during that time to better understand” how fires may play out later in the year.
“We can’t say we’re going to get a lot of fires this year, because we simply don’t know,” Sanchez told CNN. It is possible to see the conditions for large destructive fires, so we have to be prepared when that happens and we do not know when or where the fire is going to be.
“What is happening with climate is the timing of that peak [precipitation] is also changing,” Nemeth added. “So we really don’t know, here on February 1, whether or not this is the peak of our snowpack — and those are really important data points that help us manage water in California.”
Schwartz is worried that if we hit a dry and warm time, we might not end up in a spot favorable for April and March. The water season still has more than a few months left and these are not static numbers.
The experts say these storms were needed so much. Schwartz said he wants moisture and the elevated snowpack to stick around to avoid an active fire season.
If temperatures climb in the coming months, the sun could bake out what little moisture there is in the ground. Lee Turin Dickman, a plant ecologist with Los Alamos National Laboratory, said that when all of the vegetative fuel dries out, fire frets begin to emerge.
Changing the carbon content of the plants can cause the vegetation to become less dry if there are changes to weather or climate.
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is currently under a regional emergency due to a fourth consecutive dry year.
Lake Oroville, California’s most beleaguered and second-largest reservoir, saw a huge boost after the climate change-fueled megadrought sucked away nearly all of its water supply.
Before-and-after photos show a dramatic improvement at the reservoirs, which currently stands at 115% of average, up from just 61% in February 2016 and 77% in February 2022.
The images show abathtub ring of dirt at the edge of the lake, which shows how far the water levels had fallen. By late January, the after images showed the bathtub ring was underwater once again.
In the year 2020, the total capacity plunged to just 24%. The intake pipes and boat ramps that send the water to power the plant were not visible in the lake’s water level.
The plant is the fourth-largest hydroelectric energy producer statewide, according to the California Energy Commission, with the ability to power up to 800,000 homes when operating at full capacity. Of the state’s electricity, about 15% was generated by hydroelectric power plants.
The California state water officials increased water deliveries to 30% of requested supplies in order to recover from the winter storms.
The State Water Project gained a total of 1.62 million acre-feet of water from Lake Oroville and San Luis, which is enough water to supply over five million households for a year. A foot of water is the amount of water needed to cover an acre-foot.
The Grand Canyon, the West, and the Southwest: Forecasts for next month’s rainfall and snow on Lake Powell and Lake Mead
Karla Nemeth, director of the Department of Water Resources, warned during the state’s February 1 snowpack survey this month was not looking promising for more rain and snow.
Lake Powell is the largest man-made water body in the country, and the Colorado River feeds it. The water levels in the lakes have been so low that some Western states have had to cut back on water supplies. Lake Powell has hit a new low this month, and Lake Mead is just above it’s previous record-low.
It is important that we still get some rain and snowstorms over the next two months, to keep our precipitation totals above average.
Editor’s Note: A version of this article originally appeared in the weekly weather newsletter, the CNN Weather Brief, which is released every Monday. You can sign up to get them every week if you so choose.
The Pacific Northwest is getting snow and rain as the storm progresses, a good sign for their already blockbuster snow season.
There are storm warnings for southern Wyoming where two feet of snow and winds over 70 mph will create blinding conditions. The weather service says the wind chill will fall to 25 degrees below zero.
The big problems come in for the second round Wednesday night into Thursday. This is where we could see up to two feet of snow across the Midwest, along with 50 mph wind gusts. Travel is nearly impossible during this time frame.
The storm does make it to the Northeast and New England by the end of the week. Boston could get a few inches of snow, despite the fact that New York City isn’t out of the snow.
More than 120 high temperature records could be set in the Southeast Tuesday through Friday, as well as more than 40 record low temperatures in the Northwest.
This week will be wild with weather, from buried under snow and frigid temperatures to basking in the sunshine and record warmth.
The Midwest Weather System is Getting Colder and Less Dangerous Through the weekend, and Forecasts are Predicting More Showers and Flux Floods for the Next Three Months
Airports across the Midwest, including in Minneapolis, Chicago, Milwaukee and Detroit have faced a plethora of cancellations. There were more than 1,600 flights canceled on Wednesday. More than 1,700 flights were canceled and over 10,000 were delayed on Thursday as of Thursday morning, according to flight- tracking website FlightAware.
Atlanta had a record high of 81 degrees on Wednesday. New Orleans was 83 degrees on Wednesday, followed by Washington, D.C., which had a 77 degree day.
Just as noteworthy were the unusual warm temperatures seen in Southern and Mid-Atlantic states, the National Weather Service said. On Thursday, both Nashville, Tenn., and Richmond, Va., saw temperatures hit 85 and 83 degrees respectively.
The San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties of California were warned to seek safe harbor immediately because of the threat of storms that could produce sudden waterspouts. The two counties are also at risk of seeing small tornadoes on land.
The area has been warned of a freeze from Friday evening to Saturday morning. The sub-freezing conditions will be especially dangerous to unsheltered populations, crops and unprotected outdoor plumbing.
In Michigan, travel was disrupted because of the rain and ice, making it riskier for livestock and infrastructure. Port Austin had 8 inches of snow, while the neighboring town of Midland had 9.2 inches. Meanwhile southern portions of the state saw high accumulations of ice, according to the National Weather Service.
There is still the chance of some light snow in southeast Michigan. On Friday, the temperatures will be below freezing across the state. The weather is expected to warm up by Sunday.
Through the weekend, there are storms set to continue. The National Weather Service’s Los Angeles office had not issued a blizzard warning since 1989.
When the snow stops falling and the winds are strong, there can be no visibility in the area because the snow can blow off the ground. Weather warnings have warned of extreme caution when traveling.
In addition to the snow, some Los Angeles-area roads turned into rivers on Friday after bouts of heavy rain, prompting the weather service to issue a flash flood warning.
The Weather Prediction Center says that more rain is going to be in the forecast at lower altitudes through the weekend as flash flooding occurs north and west of Los Angeles.
As the region faces storms this week, Saturday’s rain will make it more likely that flooding will happen, especially if it hits already soaked grounds. In the last month of the year, much of the state was hit by deadly flooding.
The aftermath of the same weather system that struck California and numerous states spanning the country earlier this week is still affecting hundreds of thousands of people in the Midwest.
The powerful winter storm that hit Michigan on Saturday left half a million homes and businesses without power. Wayne County accounted for the most outages at more than 150,000.
DTE, one of Michigan’s largest electric providers, said it will not be able to restore service to most customers before Sunday.
Multiple inches of snow fell on the southern part of the state, prompting Minneapolis officials to declare a snow emergency and the Massachusetts State Police to declare an emergency
The highway patrol said on its official account that Wyoming crews were in search and rescue mode after more than 40 inches of snow fell in the southern part of the state.
Heavy snow caused Minneapolis officials to declare a snow emergency Friday, and city crews have been plowing and treating streets. The city received more than 13 inches over a three-day period.
In New England, icy conditions likely contributed to a massive 15-vehicle pileup on the Massachusetts Turnpike Thursday night, according to a tweet by the Massachusetts State Police.
Flash flooding did hit nearby Ventura County early Saturday, where up to 7 inches (18 centimeters) of rain fell, but by 6 a.m. Saturday, the weather service said the heavy rain in both counties had ended and that flooding was no longer a threat.
Brian Wheeler, a spokesman for Consumers Energy, said half an inch (1.27 centimeters) of ice weighed down some power lines — equivalent to the weight of a baby grand piano.
Allison Rinker used a generator to keep her house warm Saturday after two nights of cold and darkness.
She said that they were all alive, but spirits were low on the second day. “As soon as the heat came back and we were able to have one or two lights running, it was like a complete flip in attitude.”
She feared that the ice that fell off the trees would cause her window to crack. “There’s just tree limbs everywhere, half of the trees just falling down. The destruction is insane.”
New results from the Southern Hemisphere show that the city of Portland, Calif., had its snowiest day on record – firefighters and road crews are in the evacuation zone
Yet the cold weather blasting the North and West avoided the southern states, leading to wild temperatures differences. The high temperature was 93 degrees Fahrenheit (34 degrees Celsius) at Falcon Lake, Texas, while the low was minus 35 degrees Fahrenheit (1.7 Celsius) near Huntley, Montana.
The city of Portland had its second-snowiest week on record this week, with over 11 inches, with icy roads shutting down most of the city.
Tim Varner was covered in blankets in a storefront doorway to keep him out of the cold and wind. The 57-year-old man who has been homeless for two decades said it was too difficult to push a shopping cart containing his belongings to reach a shelter.
He said it was impossible. When the snow builds up on the wheels of the cart you find slippery spots and can’t get traction. So you’re stuck.”
In addition, heavy rainfall brought several inches of rain to the area, including more than 4 inches in Holy Jim Canyon, Lower Silverado Canyon and Henshaw Dam; more than three inches in La Jolla Amago, Costa Mesa, Mount Woodson and Carlsbad Airport; and more than two inches to John Wayne Airport, Escondido, San Bernardino and Temecula, according to the service’s 5-day rainfall reports.
San Bernardino County was hit hard by the winter storm, which caused a state of emergency in 13 counties.
Authorities there had conducted almost 100 rescues by Wednesday evening, San Bernardino County Fire Chief Dan Munsey said in a news conference, though authorities have not learned of any serious injuries or deaths.
“We’re responding to medical calls. We’re responding to fires in these trapped vehicles. Munsey said that they are going to people’s houses where there have been trees through their houses or some sort of roof collapse in order to evacuate them.
The Governor’s Office of Emergency Services has been working to bring additional snow plows and road crews to the county, and personnel from Cal Fire and the California National Guard “are readied to support operations.”
It could take a week to 10 days to dig out the mountain communities hampered by the heavy snow, officials warned in a news conference Wednesday. Mountain residents were still unable to access roads Wednesday, per fire department spokesperson Eric Sherwin. Several hundred miles of tight, winding roads throughout the mountain areas of the county are needed to be paved.
The National Weather Service reported that parts of California were buried under a lot of snow over the course of a few days, with some places receiving more than 100 inches in the last week. The three story apartment building in Olympic Valley was engulfed by the slide, and had to be evacuated. The building’s occupants were uninjured.
A report from the office of emergency services said 10 to 12 feet of snow near China Peak caused the closure of Highway 168.
The water is still coming, but it is far from being done, says Brandon Mendonsa of Tulare County, South Carolina, with the KFSN affiliate
“The devastation is indescribable,” Tulare County farmer Brandon Mendonsa told CNN affiliate KFSN. “The water is still coming – this is far from being done.”