A monstrous winter storm maintained its grip on the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest on Thursday following bringing heavy snow, freezing rain and gusty winds to the central United States, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without electricity and grounding hundreds of flights.
A large swath of the northern United States – from Washington state to New England – remained under winter weather advisories. Some locations might see another 46 cm of snow, winds blowing at 80 km per hour and wind chill equivalent to minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 40 C) throughout the day, according to the National Weather Service.
At the same time, parts of the Ohio Valley and the South might experience near-record high temperatures, starting Thursday and over the next few days, including Sunday when it’s expected to be 88 F (31 C) in Jacksonville, Florida.
In Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and New York state, high winds and freezing rain knocked out power to some 900,000 homes and businesses Thursday morning, according to Poweroutage.us.
A separate storm brought unusual weather to California, where much of the state was under severe wind and winter storm warnings.
Rare snow showers were reported in San Francisco, while blizzard conditions were expected at higher elevations – even in the Los Angeles area. By Saturday, up to 2.4 meters of snow might accumulate on Mount Baldy, regarding 72 km east of Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Mountains.
“Snow is on the way and plenty of it. We’re doing our best to prepare for it to be ready for a few days of powder at California’s most radical mountain,” Mt Baldy Resort said in a tweet, announcing that it was closed on Thursday.
Experts say the increasing frequency and intensity of these storms, interspersed with extreme heat and dry spells, are symptoms of climate change. While the East Coast experienced a relatively mild winter, the Northern Plains experienced an extreme winter in terms of snowfall and low temperatures, according to the weather service.
As of Thursday morning, snow was falling at a rate of 1 to 2 inches per hour in Minneapolis, a Midwestern city in a metropolitan area of regarding 2.9 million people, which was already blanketed in 8 inches of snow.
Video footage and photos on social media showed cars stuck on the roads, while streets and driveways were covered in drifting snow across the city, as authorities urged motorists to stay home.
“Big flakes are coming down here,” storm chaser Aaron Jayjack said in a video he posted to Twitter from Minneapolis. “It’s the final push of the storm, and in fact it looks like it’s the biggest snowfall so far. So it’s the final push that delivers the big hit.”
The Minneapolis school system kept classes remote for more than 29,000 students for the rest of the week. Dozens of school districts have also canceled classes in North and South Dakota, Colorado, Michigan and Wyoming.
The storm also caused delays or cancellations of more than 1,300 flights across the country, including 240 flights to and from Minneapolis, according to data from Flightware.com.
Northern US Transit Services reported closed roads and slippery pavement due to ice and snow buildup, warning motorists to slow down.
The storm was expected to dissipate on Thursday, leaving behind places like Sioux Falls, South Dakota, under a foot (0.3 meters) of snow and Great Falls, Wyoming, in a deep freeze of minus 18 F ( minus 27 C).