Tag Archives: National Weather Service

Winter storm with heavy snows, fierce winds targets New England

National Weather forecast map..

By Brendan O’Brien

(Reuters) – A winter storm is expected to dump heavy snows and produce fierce winds in New England on Thursday evening and into Friday morning, the National Weather Service said.

More than a foot of snow (30 cm) and 50 mph (80 kph) winds are forecast from the Adirondacks Mountains in upstate New York to western Maine, leading to possible white-out conditions on roads and power outages, the weather service said in an advisory.

The storm will make travel across much of the region hazardous, the weather service said.

Storm and high wind watches and warnings were in effect for much of the region until Friday morning as snow fall rates could be as much as 3 inches (8 cm) an hour in some parts, according to the service.

Forecasters predict temperatures will be in the mid 20s and lower 30s on Thursday and Friday and dip into the teens on Saturday.

(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)

New York and Boston could approach record lows in Arctic chill

People brave the cold weather in East Village in New York City, NY,

Dec 16 (Reuters) – The Arctic air blowing through New York and Boston will bring near record low temperatures on Friday, while another blast of cold air is flowing into the Midwest, a meteorologist said.

The mercury in New York City is forecast to drop to 15 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 9 degrees Celsius), which would tie its record for this date, meteorologist Patrick Burke of the Weather Prediction Center told Reuters.

Temperatures in Boston are forecast to plunge to 2 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 17 degrees Celsius), just above the 1883 record of 1 degree (minus 17 degrees Celsius), he said.

“This is well below normal even for those areas of the country that are kind of used to cold weather,” Burke said.

The frigid temperatures and blustery winds across the Northeast on Friday come as many parts of the United States face another brunt of cold, windy weather and snow that could interrupt people’s travel plans heading into the weekend.

People brave the cold weather in East Village in New York City,

People brave the cold weather in East Village in New York City, NY, U.S. December 15, 2016. REUTERS/Alex Wroblewski

Arctic air swept into the Midwest earlier this week before spreading to the East Coast. Another shock of cold air arrived from Canada into Montana and North Dakota late on Thursday, Burke said.

With it comes the risk of frostbite for many parts of the northern United States, a danger weather officials have warned about all this week as a result of the unusual cold.

The Arctic front will combine with a storm flowing across the Rocky Mountains on Friday, according to National Weather Service advisory. Extreme conditions in many parts of the country will continue into Saturday, it said.

The eastward spread of the snowstorm will blanket parts of South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin with between 5 inches and 10 inches of snow (13 to 25 cm), Burke said.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

Midwest snow storm grounds hundreds of Chicago flights

Person walking in high snow

(Reuters) – Hundreds of flights into and out of Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway airports were canceled on Sunday as a winter storm system dumped moderate to heavy snow on the Upper Midwest and Lower Great Lakes regions before heading toward the U.S. Northeast.

A winter storm warning was in effect in the Chicago area on Sunday afternoon, with total accumulations of up to 10 inches (25 cm) expected by midnight CST, the National Weather Service said.

It warned of difficult driving conditions in and around the country’s third-biggest metropolitan area, where snow began falling on Saturday afternoon.

As much as 13 inches of snow fell in parts of Michigan and up to 9 inches in parts of Minnesota by 8 a.m. CST on Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.

At O’Hare International Airport, the world’s fourth-busiest airport, United Air Lines and American Airlines have scratched most regional flights and some mainline service, while Southwest Air has canceled most flights out of Midway International on Sunday evening and Monday morning, the airports said.

Passengers took to Twitter to vent their frustrations over one of the first winter storms to snarl air traffic in the region this season.

“To all our fans in Vegas – we are stuck in Chicago from the snow storm, we are so so sorry. Winter weather is (sic) wrecked our plans. This sucks,” wrote the rock band One Republic in a Twitter post. The group had a show scheduled on Sunday night at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

All told, more than 1,200 flights into and out of O’Hare were canceled as of Sunday afternoon, according to the Flightaware tracking service, while nearly 200 Midway flights were scratched.

At Detroit’s Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, a Delta flight arriving from Buffalo, New York, skidded off the runway and came to a stop on a grassy verge around midday on Sunday, but there were no injuries, local media reported.

Representatives of the airport and the airline could not be reached immediately to confirm the reports.

(Reporting By Frank McGurty; Editing by Alan Crosby)

North Dakota governor orders pipeline protesters expelled

Women hold a prayer ceremony on Backwater Bridge during a protest against plans to pass the Dakota Access pipeline near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, near Cannon Ball, North Dakota,

By Terray Sylvester

CANNON BALL, N.D. (Reuters) – North Dakota’s governor ordered the expulsion of thousands of Native American and environmental activists camped on federal property near an oil pipeline project they are trying to halt, citing hazards posed by harsh weather as a blizzard bore down on the area.

The “emergency evacuation” order from Governor Jack Dalrymple came days after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which manages the site, set a Dec. 5 deadline for the demonstrators to vacate their encampment, about 45 miles (72 km) south of Bismarck, the state capital.

The Army Corps has insisted, however, that it has no plans to forcibly remove protesters, many of them members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. The agency instead urged a “peaceful and orderly transition to a safer location.”

Late Monday, Standing Rock Chairman Dave Archambault II denounced Dalrymple’s order as a “menacing action meant to cause fear,” and accused the Republican governor of trying to “usurp and circumvent federal authority.”

Archambault noted that the evacuation order, which the governor said he issued for the campers’ well-being in the face of dangerous winter weather, came a week after police turned water hoses on protesters in sub-freezing temperatures.

Activists have spent months protesting against plans to route the $3.8 billion Dakota Access Pipeline beneath a lake near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation, saying the project poses a threat to water resources and sacred Native American sites.

The governor did not specify how he intended to enforce his order other than by directing state and local agencies to refuse emergency assistance and other services to anyone who remained at the site. He said the order was effective immediately and would stay in force “until rescinded.”

But Standing Rock Sioux spokeswoman Phyllis Young told a news conference Monday night the tribe would stand its ground.

“We have lived for generations in this setting. That is our camp. We will continue to provide for our people there,” she said. “This is Lakota territory. This is treaty territory, and no one else has jurisdiction there.”

Protest leaders suggested a forced evacuation could prove more dangerous to the activists than staying put.

“We’re in the heart of winter now. To even think of a forced removal is terrifying,” said Dallas Goldtooth, an organizer with Indigenous Environmental Network, who estimated there were about 5,000 people in the camp.

Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier added to the pressure by issuing a video statement urging protesters to avoid subjecting themselves to “life-threatening conditions” by remaining exposed to the elements with little shelter.

The National Weather Service has posted a storm warning for most of western and central North Dakota, forecasting the possibility of heavy snow through Wednesday.

The 1,172-mile (1,885-km) pipeline project is mostly complete except for a segment that is supposed to run under Lake Oahe, a reservoir formed by a dam on the Missouri River.

The Obama administration in September postponed final approval of an Army Corps permit required to allow tunneling beneath the lake, a move intended to give federal officials more time to consult tribal leaders. The delay also led to escalating tension over the project.

The companies say the pipeline would carry Bakken shale oil more cheaply and safely from North Dakota to Illinois en route to U.S. Gulf Coast refineries than it could be shipped by railroad or tanker trucks.

(Additional reporting by Timothy Mclaughlin in Chicago; Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Leslie Adler, Robert Birsel)

Firefighters battling California blaze face hot, dry conditions on Tuesday

Fire fighters battling Sand Fire in California - wildfire

(Reuters) – Firefighters in drought-hit California who are battling a 50-square-mile wildfire could be hampered by triple-digit heat, wind gusts up to 30 mph and low humidity on Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.

About 3,000 firefighters have been fighting to contain the so called Sand Fire on the rugged northwestern fringes of the Los Angeles National Forest since Friday.

The blaze has killed one person, found in a burned-out car parked in a driveway, and destroyed at least 18 homes. An estimated 20,000 to 30,000 people were forced to evacuate but late on Monday, fire officials lifted the evacuation order for the majority of residents.

The fire was just 10 percent contained on Monday evening as crews backed by bulldozers labored to hack buffer lines around its perimeter as it cast a pall of smoke and soot over a wide area.

An air quality advisory was in effect in the area of the fire until Tuesday midnight local time after much of the Los Angeles basin was dusted with a thin layer of fine white ash from the fire over the weekend.

Among the properties to go up in flames was the landmark Sable Ranch, a popular location for television and movie shoots.

About 300 miles to the north, another fire ravaged a hilly area near the scenic coastal city of Carmel-by-the-Sea, churning through 16,100 acres (6,500 hectares) and destroying 20 homes, authorities said.

The so-called Soberanes Fire, burning in the Los Padres National Forest in Monterey County, threatened 1,650 structures by Monday evening and was only 10 percent contained, the U.S. Forest Service said.

The causes of the two fires were under investigation. They are among some 3,750 blazes large and small to have erupted across California since January, a higher-than-normal total, collectively scorching more than 200,000 acres (80,940 hectares), state fire officials said.

The biggest so far was last month’s Erskine Fire, which consumed 48,000 acres (19,429 hectares) northeast of Bakersfield, killing two people and destroying about 250 structures.

By comparison, the 2003 Cedar Fire ranks as the biggest on record in the state, burning more than 273,000 acres (110,480 hectares) and killing 15 people.

(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)

Firefighters to battle against flames, dry California weather

Wildfire in California June 2016

(Reuters) – Firefighters on Thursday were set to face high temperatures and gusty winds as they battle five large fires burning in drought-stricken California, officials said, though progress allowed authorities to lift some earlier evacuation orders.

The National Weather Service issued so-called red flag weather warnings for a tract of southern California for Thursday, including for mountains in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara counties where wildfires were already burning.

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Daniel Berlant said the weather conditions could fuel existing blazes or contribute to new fires.

“We’re preparing for what could be another busy day,” Berlant said.

Authorities on Wednesday lifted evacuation orders on 534 homes in foothills northeast of Los Angeles that had been imposed as firefighters struggled to get control of two wildfires called the San Gabriel Complex. Evacuation orders were still in effect for another 324 homes.

As of Wednesday night, the blaze had charred 4,900 acres of chaparral and short grass, and containment lines had been drawn around 15 percent of the flames, according to fire information website InciWeb.

To the south, firefighters managed to slow the spread of a massive fire near the Mexican border town of Potrero, prompting officials to lift some evacuation orders there as well. Fire officials said some 200 structures were under threat as of Wednesday night, down from a peak of 1,000.

That fire, about 50 miles (80 km) southeast of San Diego, has blackened more than 6,700 acres and was 20 percent contained as of Wednesday night, fire officials said.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Wednesday said the risk of catastrophic wildfires had increased because of the 66 million trees that had died in California from 2010 to October 2015. Some 26 million of them were in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains.

(Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Alison Williams)

drcolbert.monthly

Bitterly cold wind chills expected in 22 states this weekend

Wind chill warnings or advisories were issued in parts of 22 states on Friday afternoon, as the National Weather Service cautioned that perceived temperatures could reach bitterly cold levels.

The service warned that the eastern United States is poised to see the coldest air mass of the season this weekend, and high winds are forecast to create dangerously low wind chills there.

The National Weather Service says overnight lows are expected to be in the single digits across New England, the mid-Atlantic and the Great Lakes on Saturday night and Sunday morning. Many regions could see sub-zero temperatures, with high winds making it feel even colder.

Wind chill warnings have been issued in parts of New England, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. In one of the more extreme cases, the National Weather Service warned that wind chills of 45 degrees below zero were expected on Saturday night and Sunday morning in Maine.

“This will result in frost bite and lead to hypothermia or death if precautions are not taken,” the service’s wind chill warning states. Other warnings say the cold temperatures may freeze pipes.

Wind chill advisories were issued in parts of Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Maryland and Delaware.

Some regions are expected to see wind chills of minus 25 or 30 degrees, the service said.

Winter storms are also in the forecast for some communities, and the National Weather Service issued lake effect snow warnings in portions of Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York.

Some upstate New York communities were expecting as much as two feet of snow, and the service’s Buffalo office said negative-50 degree wind chills were possible in some areas.

In a statement, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said his state hasn’t seen temperatures this low in a year. He encouraged his state’s residents to stay indoors and avoid unnecessary travel.

Residents of all of the affected states were encouraged to monitor their local forecasts.

Blizzard watch issued ahead of ‘potentially paralyzing’ snowstorm

The National Weather Service on Wednesday issued its first watches for a winter storm that could wreak havoc on the northeastern United States this weekend.

The blizzard watch includes the cities of Baltimore and Washington and surrounding areas in Maryland and Virginia. It will formally go into effect on Friday afternoon and remain valid through Saturday night, the service said.

The National Weather Service said it’s “monitoring the possibility” that a storm could drop 1 to 2 feet of snow along the I-95 corridor this Friday and Saturday.

The stretch includes other major cities like Philadelphia, Boston and New York, though no watches for those areas had been issued as of mid-day Wednesday.

The service’s Weather Prediction Center warned of a “potentially paralyzing winter storm for portions of the Mid-Atlantic,” including possible blizzard conditions in Baltimore and Washington, and said more than a half-inch of ice was possible in Kentucky and North Carolina. Coastal flooding was also possible.

The blizzard watch cautions that the area could receive more than a foot of snow, with a wintry mix possible on Friday night. The storm is also expected to bring 40 mph wind gusts, which could lead to whiteouts and power outages.

“Heavy snow and blowing snow will cause dangerous conditions and will be a threat to life and property,” the watch states. “Travel is expected to be severely limited if not impossible during the height of the storm Friday night and Saturday.”

The blizzard watch encourages people to stock up on necessary items.

The service also issued less-severe winter storm watches for portions of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Virginia, though still warned that a foot of snow was possible in some areas and said blowing snow could pose travel hazards.

The Weather Channel is calling the potential storm Winter Storm Jonas.

The threat came as another winter storm was moving across the country.

National Weather Service radar showed precipitation falling throughout the south, and winter weather advisories or winter storm warnings were in effect for portions of Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, Georgia and the Carolinas.

On Tuesday, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal declared a state of emergency for 15 counties affected by winter weather.

Light winter weather threatening central United States

Portions of 15 states were under winter weather advisories on Tuesday morning as a winter storm was expected to bring snow, freezing rain and sleet later tonight and into Wednesday.

Precipitation types and totals were expected to vary by location, according to the National Weather Service, but none of the states were expected to see more than moderate amounts.

The service issued a winter storm warning for Kentucky, advising up to 5 inches of snow was possible through Wednesday, and winter storm watches in other portions of that state and southern Illinois. Other parts of those states, as well as the 13 others in the service’s advisory area, were largely forecast to get between 1 and 4 inches of snow, or other winter precipitation.

The National Weather Service issued the winter weather advisories for parts of Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky, Illinois and Virginia, asking motorists there to exercise caution.

Precipitation was falling in Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri as of late Tuesday morning, the National Weather Service’s radar showed, and it was expected to move east into Wednesday.

The National Weather Service also said it was “monitoring the possibility” of a more significant winter storm that could affect major cities in the northeast this weekend. Early forecasts indicate the storm may bring 1 to 2 feet of snow and coastal flooding along the I-95 corridor, the service said, a stretch that includes cities like Washington, Philadelphia, New York and Boston. The service had yet to issue any watches or warnings for that storm, as it may not materialize.

Separately, a storm arrived on the Pacific Coast on Tuesday and triggered several other notices.

The National Weather Service issued winter storm warnings in mountainous parts of California, which could receive 6 to 18 inches of snow by the end of the day. The service also issued flood advisories for other portions of California, saying rain may cause small streams to flood.

Winter weather advisories were issued in parts of Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana as a storm was expected to move east into those states later tonight and into tomorrow, but snow totals weren’t expected to be as significant as they were California. Still, the service called for up to 5 inches of snow in Washington’s valleys and 8 inches in its mountains.

Extreme cold weather affects large portions of United States

Large portions of the United States were experiencing dangerously low temperatures on Monday morning, with wind chills poised to hit some 40 degrees Fahrenheit below zero in certain areas.

The National Weather Service issued wind chill advisories in parts of 16 states, warning that gusty winds and low temperatures could lead to frostbite in as little as 20 minutes in some areas.

The warnings covered portions of Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee. Temperatures were expected to remain below 20 degrees in almost all of the advisory areas, and large portions were expecting sub-zero or single-digit temperatures.

Wind gusts in the high teens drove the perceived temperature down further, the service said. People affected by the extreme cold were advised to dress warmly and cover all exposed skin.

The National Weather Service said the temperatures were “below-normal” and would shift further east over the next two days. Lake effect snow warnings were in effect for portions of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York, and the service said there was a chance of heavy snow before Tuesday night. Some parts of New York could receive up to 20 inches, forecasts say.