A large winter storm roaring out west dumped up to 4 feet of snow in parts of Nevada and Idaho, fueled blizzard warnings in six other states and tornadoes in the South.
More than 25 million Americans were under severe weather watches and warnings Tuesday. The march across the country could last into the weekend, when parts of the Northeast could be blasted with more than a foot of snow, forecasters warned.
“This is a ‘we’re not kidding’ kind of storm,” the South Dakota Department of Transportation said he tweeted as he warned of road closures across much of the state. “BLIZZARD and ICE STORM WARNINGS have been issued. Rain/freezing rain and heavy snow along with strong winds will affect travel.”
Parts of Nebraska, Colorado, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, and Kansas were facing blizzard conditions (snow with winds of at least 35 mph, reducing visibility to a quarter mile or less), and several other states s ‘were facing winter storm and ice storm warnings. , the National Weather Service said.
In Colorado, the weather service office in Boulder said Tuesday that state transportation department cameras showed “deteriorated conditions on the plains.” The storm was expected to last through Wednesday, and the weather service said several roads had already been closed. Conditions were expected to worsen amid heavy snowfall and wind gusts that could reach 60 mph.
Tornadoes land in Texas, Oklahoma
Tornado sirens sounded across much of North Texas as a line of storms tore through the Dallas area. Social media posts showed damage in Texas and Oklahoma. The Fort Worth weather service office confirmed that a tornado touched down Tuesday morning in River Oaks, 40 miles west of Dallas.
“The line continues to move east producing isolated tornadoes, damaging winds and hail up to a quarter,” the Fort Worth office tweeted.
Emergency management officials in Dallas warned that wind gusts could reach 70 mph and that hail was possible. Dallas-Fort Worth Airport briefly activated a “shelter in place” program.
“We ask that you stay away from windows and outside,” airport officials said in a tweet. “Take shelter in enclosed spaces if you are at the airport. Please do not travel to the airport until the tornado warning is off.”
The Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District also issued a shelter-in-place order at the site. It was later abandoned, but power was cut at three schools.
Earlier Tuesday, at least one tornado touched down in south-central Oklahoma. Several homes were damaged in Wayne, 40 miles south of Oklahoma City, where storm sirens are tested every Friday when the weather is sunny. according to the municipality’s website.
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The East Coast will not be spared
“A storm will develop near southeastern Virginia on Thursday, near the New Jersey coast on Friday and finally rotate near southeastern New England on Saturday,” said AccuWeather meteorologist Mary Gilbert. He predicted widespread snowfall across much of the region.
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Tornado conditions point to Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi
In addition to Oklahoma and Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi could bring “large hail, winds and tornadoes, including the potential for a pair of strong tornadoes,” the weather service said. AccuWeather warned that the line of storms will gain intensity and become more widespread as it slides east. Tuesday’s bad weather could spread to major population centers beyond Dallas, including Houston, Little Rock, Arkansas; and New Orleans, AccuWeather said.
Anchor schools to reopen after ‘unprecedented’ storms.
Even Alaska was not safe: a series of record storms forced closing Anchorage schools for a week, unprecedented in a city used to dealing with winter conditions.
“Barring any unforeseen weather conditions in the next 12 hours, we will return to school tomorrow as best we can given these unprecedented back-to-back snowstorms,” the district said in a Facebook post Monday. “It will take patience and planning as a community to make this happen.”
