Not just California: Storms ravage other parts of the U.S., with more to come
Heavy snow bookended the U.S. on Tuesday, bringing a messy morning commute to the Northeast and leaving California residents to dig out, or in some cases simply wait for help, after yet another storm.
Hundreds of schools across southern New England either closed for the day or delayed opening as the most significant snowfall of what has been a mild winter hit overnight. As much as seven or eight inches of snow blanketed some communities by sunrise.
“We’ve had no winter until now,” said Harry Craven, the owner of Highland True Value Hardware and Bike Shop in Holyoke, Mass. “But we’ve had people coming in the last couple days for ice melt [chemicals] and shovels, some people this morning looking for parts to do repairs on snowblowers. By our standards, this hasn’t been a blockbuster storm, but I’m happy with it.”
There were more than 470 flight cancellations and more than 900 delays by mid-morning in the U.S., concentrated in the Northeast, according to FlightAware.com.
A winter storm warning covered parts of the Northeast, including Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island, with heavy snow forecast through Tuesday afternoon.
The snow complicated the morning commute on Boston-area highways, and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority reported power losses that affected signals on multiple lines and stations. Even after power was restored, residual delays were expected, the MBTA said.
Satellite photos from NASA Earth Observatory show water levels at Lake Shasta and Lake Oroville increasing dramatically after early-winter storms.
A crash involving tractor-trailers on Interstate 91 in Connecticut caused minor injuries.
“I strongly encourage everyone in Connecticut to stay off the roads on Tuesday morning unless absolutely necessary,” Gov. Ned Lamont said in a statement. Three special elections for the Connecticut House went on as scheduled.
Two to five inches of snow fell across New York City, depending on the borough. Parts of Manhattan barely got any, and instead of sticking on heavily trafficked streets and sidewalks, it turned into a mushy mess during the morning commute. In the Bronx and Brooklyn, there was enough snow that residents had to brush off cars and shovel sidewalks.
The Albany, N.Y., area saw less snow than expected — 2 to 5 inches — but enough to close schools.
The Lake Arrowhead area has received 5 feet of snow in the last five days, trapping residents, vacationers and students. More snow is on the way.
Michigan again fought a battle with ice after a new storm that hit Monday left thousands of customers without power in the central part of the state. To the southeast, around Detroit, some customers still lacked power for a sixth day after a previous ice storm.
In the Midwest, a storm system produced at least four tornadoes as it moved across central and northeastern Illinois on Monday, including two that formed in suburbs west of Chicago, authorities said. Initial reports suggested that damage there was limited to fallen trees or shingles torn from buildings, said Rafal Ogorek, a meteorologist in the Chicago office of the National Weather Service.
At least one person was killed and three others injured after a tornado touched down Sunday night in far western Oklahoma near the town of Cheyenne, where 20 homes were damaged and four others destroyed, a county official said.
Statewide, Oklahoma officials received reports from hospitals of 55 people who suffered weather-related injuries.
Skiing within the City of Los Angeles? That’s what five friends accomplished Sunday when they descended the slopes of the city’s tallest mountain.
Officials in Norman, Okla., confirmed 12 weather-related injuries after tornadoes and wind gusts as high as 90 mph were reported in the state Sunday night. The winds toppled trees and power lines, closed roads and damaged homes and businesses around Norman and Shawnee.
“It was just like a blizzard in the house with all the debris flying,” Norman resident Frances Tabler told KOCO-TV. “I was screaming for my kids.”
The line of quick-moving thunderstorms that produced a swath of damaging wind gusts likely qualified as a derecho, although that’s not an official designation, said Nolan Meister, a National Weather Service meteorologist.
There were reports of nine tornadoes in Kansas, Oklahoma and northwestern Texas, weather officials said. One tornado near Liberal, Kan., damaged more than a dozen homes and caused minor injuries to one person, KSNW-TV reported.
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