Rain, Snow, Record Warmth Hit Midwest

Severe and unusual weather struck the Mississippi Valley and the northern Midwest on Wednesday with snow, thunderstorms and record high temperatures, while the Northwest braced for another storm and more flooding.

Strong thunderstorms continued through the day over northeast Mississippi with a large area of rain and scattered thunderstorms over western Tennessee, Louisiana, Arkansas, southeast Texas, northern Alabama and the Florida Panhandle, weather officials said.

The storms produced strong, gusting winds near Vicksburg and Jackson, Miss., and the Warren County sheriff’s office reported that trees had been blown down in the region.

In Indiana, at least 1,000 people were forced from their homes Wednesday, some evacuated by boat, after two days of rain overflowed creeks and ditches, officials said.

The heavy rain in northwest Indiana later abated, but the National Weather Service issued a flood warning for the Kankakee River through Saturday. Two emergency shelters were set up in Lake County for those left homeless by high water.

As much as 5 1/2 inches of rain soaked parts of the Chicago metropolitan area and more than three inches fell in Peoria, Ill.

A Chicago man drowned when his car became submerged in 10 feet of water beneath a viaduct. John Appleton, 62, was found unconscious by divers and was pronounced dead at Olympia Fields Osteopathic Medical Center.

Missouri was recovering from severe storms and tornadoes Tuesday that injured 30 people and destroyed homes, businesses and vehicles. Gov. John Ashcroft went to the O’Fallon area, about 30 miles outside of St. Louis, early Wednesday to inspect the damage from winds that gusted to 70 m.p.h.

Fire Chief David House said damage was estimated at $36 million, but he said that figure could go higher.

The only serious injury reported was a hunter who was in critical condition Wednesday in suburban St. Louis after being found under the debris of a house.

Two tornadoes also were spotted in the state but caused no serious damage, authorities said.

Elsewhere, records for warm and wet weather were set at the same time snow advisories were posted in the upper Midwest.

Snow fell through nearly all of northeast Minnesota and northern Wisconsin with accumulations of up to seven inches. Freezing rain was falling on the western third of upper Michigan.

But just to the south, a record temperature of 68 degrees was set in Detroit, topping by five degrees a record set in 1960.

Among high temperature records set or tied for the date Wednesday were Akron, Ohio, 68; Albany, N.Y., 75; Atlantic City, N.J., 68; Boston, 69; Buffalo, N.Y., 72; Burlington, Vt., 66; Cleveland, 68; Concord, N.H., 71; Pittsburgh, Pa., 71, and Portland, Me., 60.

A record of another sort was set in Grand Rapids, Mich., where this month was declared the second wettest November on record. The 2.99 inches of rain that fell Tuesday through Wednesday morning also was a record for a 24-hour period.

In another wet region, residents of western Washington state braced for another storm that carried the potential for high winds, heavy rain and additional flooding.

Southerly winds reaching 40 m.p.h. were expected inland as a cold front moved in from the Gulf of Alaska carrying warm, moist air that could lift snow levels to 6,000 feet, adding to the threat of already high rivers flooding their banks.