Washington, Feb. 23 Two winter storms with rain, snow and wind are spreading coast-to-coast in the United States today, creating dangerous conditions for travel, the National reported today. Weather Service (NWS).
Ice storm warnings are in effect from central Iowa to southern Michigan, and snow advisories are in effect for parts of Wyoming, southeastern North Dakota, northeastern North Dakota South and parts of Wisconsin, the agency said.
Winter storm warnings are in effect for much of the Plains, Midwest and New England, he added.
By early morning, nearly 1,600 flights had been canceled by the storm which meteorologists dubbed “Olive”, according to flightaware.com.
Nearly one million homes and businesses were without power across the country, including 724,100 in Michigan alone, poweroutage.us reported.
Matt Paul, vice president of DTE, Michigan’s largest electricity utility, said in a statement that ice accumulations of up to 200 millimeters have been seen across the southeast portion of the state, causing “extreme levels of damage” to infrastructure.
Tens of thousands of miles of Interstate 90 are closed to traffic in southwestern Minnesota due to snowfall and low visibility, and in Utah, state police responded to more than 230 vehicle collisions.
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers declared a state of emergency last night, saying in a statement that “during and after a winter storm, restoring power is crucial.”
The NWS reported snow accumulations of up to 27 inches (685 millimeters) at Sugar Loaf, Wisconsin, 11 inches (280 millimeters) at Clark, Colorado and 13 inches (330 millimeters) at Benoit, Wisconsin.
Through Thursday and Friday, the Weather Service predicts the threat of heavy snowfall across large parts of the Western Region will be centered in California as a new system develops off the West Coast. moves south.
“For the first time in this century, there are snowfall warnings in the mountains of Southern California,” said Weather Channel meteorologist Danielle Banks. “The advisories cover areas from Santa Barbara north to Los Angeles.” ECE
jab/msc