Early snowfall knocks out power to thousands in Great Lakes
Source: ABC News
Thousands of customers in the Great Lakes are without power on Tuesday after heavy snowfall combined with leaves still on trees caused many branches to fall on power lines.
Across the U.S., 28 states are under frost and freeze alerts from Colorado to New York. Actual temperatures are in the 20s and even teens. In the upper Midwest, temperatures in the 30s are widespread, with record cold dipping into the Ohio Valley and parts of the mid-South. Wind chills are in the single digits in North Dakota and Minnesota.
The freeze reaches the Gulf Coast on Wednesday, where temperatures could fall into the upper 20s and lower 30s.
Up to 18 inches of lake-effect snow fell in northern Wisconsin and up to 14 inches of snow fell in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan on Monday.
At least 1 dead, multiple people missing in Oklahoma after more than a dozen tornadoes hit 3 states,
Source: CNN
By Aya Elamroussi and Theresa Waldrop,
CNN
—
At least one person was killed and multiple people are missing after tornadoes hit Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas late Friday, damaging homes and knocking out power for thousands as officials launch search and rescue efforts.
The person who died was in McCurtain County in southeastern Oklahoma, which suffered significant storm damage after a possible tornado hit the city of Idabel, county emergency manager Cody McDaniel said. There are “multiple missing people,” he said.
Late Friday, authorities were trying to determine the extent of damages and injuries, McDaniel said, adding, “It’s not good.”
In Texas near the state’s border with Oklahoma, at least 50 homes were damaged or destroyed in Lamar County as of Friday evening, the sheriff’s office said.
Dangerous lake-effect snow paralyzes parts of New York state
Source: AP
By CAROLYN THOMPSON
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — A dangerous lake-effect snowstorm paralyzed parts of western and northern New York on Friday, dumping over 4 feet in some spots with more expected to fall through the night into Saturday. The storm was blamed for the deaths of two people stricken while clearing snow.
The storm’s severity varied widely due to the peculiarities of lake-effect storms, which are caused by frigid winds picking up moisture from warmer lakes and dumping snow in narrow bands.
Residents in some parts of Buffalo spent Friday buffeted by blowing, heavy snow, punctuated by occasional claps of thunder, while just a few miles north, only a few inches fell and there were patches of blue sky.
The heaviest snowfall was south of the city. The National Weather Service reported single-day totals of 3 feet (1 meter) in many places along the eastern end of Lake Erie, with bands of heavier precipitation bringing 66 inches (168 centimeters) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, 48 inches (122 centimeters) in Elma and more than 3 feet in Hamburg, where rescue crews were called to help a resident whose home buckled under the weight.
Massive snowfall buries cars, keeps falling in western NY
Source: AP
By CAROLYN THOMPSON
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Piles of snow, in some places taller than most people, buried parts of western and northern New York as a lake-effect storm pounded areas east of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario for a third straight day Saturday, with possibly even more to come.
Snowfall totals as high as 77 inches (196 centimeters) were reported in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, home to the NFL’s Buffalo Bills. Partway across the state, the town of Natural Bridge, near the Fort Drum Army base, reported just under 6 feet (1.8 meters).
The snowfall in some spots ranked among the highest ever recorded in the area, rivaling the eye-popping amounts that fell during similar storms in 2014 and 1945.
The snowfall totals, which began accumulating Thursday night in some spots, “would be on the order of historic not only for any time of year but for any part of the country,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Frank Pereira, at NWS headquarters in College Park, Maryland.
Biden sending federal aid as NY digs out from huge snowstorm
Source: AP
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — President Joe Biden is sending federal aid to western New York to help state and local authorities clean up from the massive storm that dumped more than 6 feet (1.8 meters) of snow in western and northern New York and is blamed for three deaths, the White House announced Monday.
The emergency declaration authorizes the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief in 11 counties hit by the the lake-effect snowstorm Friday and Saturday.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul thanked Biden for granting her request for emergency aid, and added in a news release, “My team and I will continue working around the clock to keep everyone safe, help communities dig out, and secure every last dollar to help rebuild and recover from this unprecedented, record-shattering historic winter storm.”
National Weather Service observers reported 80 inches (203 centimeters) in the Buffalo suburbs of Hamburg and Orchard Park, home to the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, and 74 inches (188 centimeters) in Natural Bridge, a hamlet near Watertown off the eastern end of Lake Ontario. The storm forced the Bills to move Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns to Detroit. The Bills won 31-23.
Storms cause major tornadoes, flooding around the South
Source: AP
an hour ago
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Residents in several towns across Louisiana and Mississippi took cover as tornado sirens blared late Tuesday, and forecasters warned of the threat of strong twisters capable of tracking long distances on the ground as a severe weather outbreak erupted in the Deep South.
There were no immediate reports of severe damage or injuries as multiple tornado warnings were issued starting Tuesday afternoon and continuing into the nighttime hours as heavy thunderstorms rolled from eastern Texas to Georgia and as far north as Indiana. The National Weather Service confirmed that tornados hit the ground in Mississippi on Tuesday evening and Alabama was in the forecast path of the storms during the overnight hours.
More than 25 million people were at risk as the vast storm system. The national Storm Prediction Center said in its storm outlook that affected cities could include New Orleans; Memphis and Nashville in Tennessee; and Birmingham, Alabama.
The NWS received reports of people trapped at a grocery store in Caledonia, Mississippi, just after 6 p.m. Lowndes County Emergency Management Agency Director Cindy Lawrence told WTVA-TV the people inside the grocery store made it out safely. Lawrence also said a family trapped in a house about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from the store escaped.
Even Weak Tropical Cyclones Have Grown More Intense Worldwide – We Tracked 30 Years of Them by Wei Mei and Shang-Ping Xie
November 29, 2022
Introduction:
(The Conversation) Tropical cyclones have been growing stronger worldwide over the past 30 years, and not just the big ones that you hear about. Our new research finds that weak tropical cyclones have gotten at least 15% more intense in ocean basins where they occur around the world.
That means storms that might have caused minimal damage a few decades ago are growing more dangerous as the planet warms.
Warmer oceans provide more energy for storms to intensify, and theory and climate models point to powerful storms growing stronger, but intensity isn’t easy to document. We found a way to measure intensity by using the ocean currents beneath the storms – with the help of thousands of floating beachball-sized labs called drifters that beam back measurements from around the world.
Over 1,100 drifters are currently operating around the world. The U.S. (blue dots) operates over 430 of them. France (orange) has about 200. Each typically lasts about a year. NOAA
Examples of NOAA’s drifters and the drogue that helps stabilize them. NOAA
Heavy rain, wind, snow blows through California into Sierra
Source: AP
By SCOTT SONNER today
RENO, Nev. (AP) — A winter storm packing powerful winds, heavy rain and potentially several feet of snow in the Sierra Nevada shut down mountain highways, toppled trees and triggered flood watches and avalanche warnings on Saturday from the coast of Northern California to Lake Tahoe.
More than 250 miles (400 kilometers) of the Sierra remained under a winter storm warning at least until Sunday night or early Monday from north of Reno to south of Yosemite National Park.
As much as 4 feet (1.2 meters) of snow is expected to fall by the end of the weekend in the upper elevations around Lake Tahoe, and as much as 6 feet (1.8 meters) in more remote parts of the Sierra to the north and south.
A 70-mile (112-kilometer) stretch of eastbound U.S. Interstate 80 was closed “due to zero visibility” from Colfax, California to the Nevada state line, transportation officials said. Chains were required on much of the rest of I-80 in the mountains from Reno toward Sacramento.
A massive coast-to-coast winter storm is bringing blizzard conditions and threatening tornadoes
Source: CNN
By Nouran Salahieh, Rob Shackelford and Joe Sutton,
Published 3:44 AM EST, Tue December 13, 2022
CNN
—
A giant winter storm cutting through the US is bringing severe weather, with dangerous blizzard conditions in the Great Plains, icy weather in the upper Midwest and severe storms along the Gulf Coast Tuesday.
There are more than 10 million people across 17 states under winter weather alerts as the massive storm continues to head east.
The coast-to-coast storm – which walloped the West over the weekend – is expected to strengthen as it pushes eastward Tuesday, and stall across the central Plains into Thursday, snarling travel amid blowing snow and freezing rain.
Meanwhile, the southern end of the storm is expected to bring late-season tornadoes along with strong thunderstorms.
US storm brings tornadoes, blizzard-like conditions; 2 dead (UPDATE)
Source: AP
By JAMIE STENGLE and STEPHEN GROVES 12 minutes ago
DALLAS (AP) -- A destructive storm marched across the United States, spawning tornadoes that touched down in parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana, where two deaths were reported, and it delivered blizzard-like conditions to the Great Plains and threatened more severe weather Wednesday in the South.
A young boy was found dead in the Pecan Farms area of Keithville, Louisiana, where his home was destroyed Tuesday after a tornado hit about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from Shreveport, and his mother's body was found nearby under debris, the Caddo Parish Sheriff's office said early Wednesday.
First responders were searching the area, but no one else had been reported missing, the sheriff's office said.
Five tornadoes were confirmed across north Texas as of Tuesday afternoon based on video and eyewitness reports, but potentially a dozen may have occurred, the National Weather Service in Fort Worth, Texas, reported.
Drought emergency declared for all Southern California
Source: Los Angeles Times
As California faces the prospect of a fourth consecutive dry year, officials with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California have declared a regional drought emergency and called on water agencies to immediately reduce their use of all imported supplies.
The decision from the MWD’s board came about eight months after officials declared a similar emergency for 7 million people who are dependent on supplies from the State Water Project, a vast network of reservoirs, canals and dams that convey water from Northern California. Residents reliant on California’s other major supply — the Colorado River — had not been included in that emergency declaration.
“Conditions on the Colorado River are growing increasingly dire,” MWD chairwoman Gloria Gray said in a statement. “We simply cannot continue turning to that source to make up the difference in our limited state supplies. In addition, three years of California drought are drawing down our local storage.”
Officials said the call for conservation could become mandatory if drought conditions persist in the coming months, which some experts say is likely. By April, the MWD will consider allocating supplies to all of its 26 member agencies, requiring them to either cut their use of imported water or face steep additional fees.
