Blizzards, wildfires and thunderstorms are swirling toward the eastern US, knocking out power to thousands and grounding hundreds of flights across the Midwest.
Heavy snowfall prompted a blizzard warning Sunday from South Dakota to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the National Weather Service said. Meanwhile, strong winds are shaking power lines and tree limbs from Texas to upstate New York, while increasing wildfire risk across the Great Plains.
Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen declared a state of emergency and mobilized the State Guard to assist. The fires evacuated and burned more than 500,000 acres.
The risk of severe thunderstorms, tornadoes and hail will extend from the central Mississippi Valley into the mid-Atlantic on Sunday, including the Washington, D.C. and Richmond, Virginia areas on Monday, the U.S. Storm Prediction Center said.
“All of a sudden Mother Nature threw a fit,” said Bob Oravec, chief forecaster at the U.S. Weather Forecast Center.
The wild weather is having widespread impacts on transportation and energy supplies across the Midwest, and heavy snow and winter are forecast to push into areas that rely heavily on natural gas for heating, increasing demand for the fuel days before the astronomical spring arrives.
As of 6:15 a.m. New York time, 1,135 flights to and around the U.S. have been canceled, mostly in Minneapolis and Chicago, according to FlightAware. More than 165,000 homes and businesses across the U.S. were without power, particularly in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan, PowerOutage.com reported.
Sunday’s strong wind will only make it worse, added Oravec. In addition to the fire danger in Nebraska, Governors Tim Walz and Tony Evers of Minnesota and Wisconsin have declared states of emergency due to the accumulation of snow.
Up to 21 inches of snow could fall in Minneapolis, the National Weather Service said. More than 30 inches is forecast east across parts of Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula before the systems begin to weaken Monday and Tuesday. The snow will be blown away by winds of up to 60 kilometers per hour.
“Traveling can be very difficult to impossible. the weather service said. “Hazardous conditions will affect the Monday morning commute.”
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula has already received 250 inches of snow this season, Oravec said, joking, “I don’t know when it’s ever going to melt.”
Chicago will be spared the worst of it, with mostly rain overnight and maybe 1 inch of snow. However, strong winds will shake the city late Sunday evening.
As the Midwest shivers, the American West faces record heat and the island state of Hawaii is hit by heavy rains and flooding. By next Saturday, 444 daily high temperature records may be broken or threatened, especially west of the Mississippi. The highest concentration is in California and the Southwest, where an extreme heat watch is in place.
Downtown Los Angeles is forecast to reach 101 degrees on Tuesday.
In Hawaii, nearly 70,000 homes and businesses were without power overnight, according to PowerOutage.com. Schools, state and local offices were closed across the state Friday and many roads were closed by flooding.
Oravec said the worst of the storm is winding down, but the state will remain trapped in a deep cloud of moisture that will bring more heavy rain during the week.
“It’s amazing how active it’s going to be across the US in the next few days,” he said.
This article was generated from an automated news agency source without text modification.
