The city of Boston is preparing to be hit again with a massive winter storm after having over 70 inches of snow in the last few weeks.
The latest storm will strike this weekend with up to 15 inches of fresh snow. The storm could also bring 60 mile per hour wins and coastal flooding with waves of 20 feet or higher.
The National Weather Service has issued a blizzard watch for the Massachusetts coast through Sunday night. A winter storm watch has also been put in place for non-coastal areas. Those non-coastal areas could see a foot of snow.
The temperatures are also causing problems with average highs around 15 degrees and wind chills as low as -22 in some areas. Officials say that if the storm brings power outages, elderly folks and shut-ins could face problems with freezing in their homes.
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said the city’s public transit system, already under heavy criticism for poor performance during the previous storms, would be shut down over the weekend during the new storm.
At least 170 pieces of snow removal equipment from other states has come to the Boston area to assist government workers.
All 50 states had areas below freezing on Tuesday as a polar vortex covered most of the United States.
The National Weather Service said that every state including Hawaii had some point below zero in the last 24 hours. The National Weather Service said that this kind of cold is not normally seen until late December through February.
The National Weather Service near Buffalo said that 60 inches of snow had fallen in their region and that in Erie County experienced four weather related deaths.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo issued a state of emergency for 10 counties who were the hardest hit by the unusual storm. The storm was severe enough that 140 miles of the New York State Thruway along Lake Erie and Lake Ontario were closed.
Forecasters say the early season cold blast will continue through the end of the week.
The first major snowstorm of the season struck Maine Sunday night leaving over 135,000 without power.
The National Weather Service said that Bangor, Maine received 12 inches of snow before the storm weakened and some outlying areas reported more than a foot. A Portland television station reported they passed a foot by 5:30 p.m.
Heavy snow and gusty winds combined to bring down trees, snapping power lines and in some cases poles. Roads across Bangor were closed because of the downed lines blocking major roadways.
Power officials hope to have all the darkened customers back on by Wednesday.
“The utility placed extra crews on standby for the weekend in anticipation of the storm,” Emera spokesman Bob Potts said in a news release. “They will remain in the field addressing problems and working to restore service to customers as safely and quickly as possible.”
Emera had 57,000 customers without power in their region.
Forecasters say the temperatures will rise into the 50s by midweek so the snow will quickly disappear.
A wave of thunderstorms rolled through Southern California Sunday causing massive flooding and landslides that left at least one person dead.
Two towns, Oak Glen and Forest Falls, were completely cut off from surrounding areas because of mudslides that blocked all roadways. At least 2,500 people are trapped including 500 campers at a Christian campground.
A U.S. Forest Service spokesman told KNBC-TV reported that the campground was hit hard with flooding and many campers had only seconds to escape a rush of mud and debris.
San Bernardino County Fire officials confirmed one person was found dead inside a car that was swept into a flooded creek.
Authorities were making reverse 911 calls to residents of the effected areas telling them to remain in their homes until maintenance workers could clear roads and officials were able to determine it was safe to travel.
The National Weather Service said that some areas received up to 5 inches of rain.
Two people, including a 5-year-old child, are dead after a pair of tornadoes ripped through a small Nebraska town.
Officials say the town of Pilger, Nebraska was obliterated when a pair of tornadoes about a mile apart struck the town. The National Storm Prediction Center said that the twisters appeared to be EF-2 or EF-3 with maximum cyclonic winds of 165 miles per hour.
“Pilger is gone,” Sanford Goshorn, Stanton County Director of Emergency Management told Reuters. “The tornado cut right through the center of town.” He said all the services to the town from electricity to water were gone. The entire community was evacuated under order of emergency management officials.
A meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Omaha said that two powerful tornadoes on the ground at the same time in the same location is very rare. The Storm Prediction Center said they recorded at least four tornadoes touching down in the area of the deadly supercell.
Area hospitals reported at least 16 people were hospitalized in critical condition.
A third “polar vortex” is aiming at the U.S. this week and it could bring the lowest temperatures of this winter’s trio of storms.
The forecast models show the frigid arctic air reaching into northern Mexico and all the way to south-central Florida. Parts of the Gulf of Mexico could see temperatures well below freezing.
The vortex is also expected to be longer than the previous two, lasting almost three days in some regions. Cities in the upper to central Midwest could be facing lows below zero for consecutive days with wind chills that could reach -50 degrees.
The National Weather Service said it could actually be warmer in the nation’s northernmost city, Barrow, Alaska, than it could be in most of the Midwest. Barrow’s predicted high for Monday is -4 degrees. That is the same predicted high for Chicago.
Forecasters say the temperature without wind chill could reach -17 degrees downtown. Wind chills could surge past -40 degrees.
In the northern Midwest, residents faced an additional problem as high winds blew snow to the point it made travel impossible.
Officials across the Midwest are encouraging residents to stay inside for the next two days and avoid travel unless absolutely necessary.
A fireball raced across the sky over the Midwest with reports of sightings coming in from at least four states.
The National Weather Service is investigating the more than 700 reports of the meteor and multiple videos of a bright object roaring across the sky. The city of North Liberty, Iowa caught the object on a traffic camera clearly showing its path across the horizon.
Witnesses described the light as a green ball that was as bright as the sun along with sonic booms and other sounds attributed to meteors.
The American Meteor Society said this event was the 3rd most reported cosmic event in the history of the AMS online reporting system.
Some scientists, however, are launching their own investigation, claiming that because of the size, brightness and color of the object, that it was not a meteor but a piece of space debris that entered the atmosphere.
The National Weather Service said because it’s not a weather related item, they may not issue a formal report.
Meteorologists looking at preliminary data say the EF-4 tornadoes that Washington and New Minden, Illinois could be some of the strongest to ever strike the state.
An EF-4 tornado has wind gusts between 166 and 200 miles per hour.
Greg Carbin of the National Weather Service said that Illinois gets violent tornadoes in November about every 7 to 10 years so the storms Sunday cannot be called rare but the strength of the storms is rare.
Illnois has had only 27 EF-4 and 2 EF-5 tornadoes since 1950 and before Sunday none of the strong twisters struck during November.
The storm devastated the town of Washington, Illlnois, cutting an 1/8th mile wide path of destruction through the entire town. Residents Phil and Carmen Jones lost their family home of 40 years in the storm and say they’ll have to start all over at age 75.
Carmen tried to look at the positives.
“We don’t have to rip that wallpaper off now,” she said.
The National Weather Service has confirmed at least three tornadoes as part of a massive storm system that hit the Midwest on Thursday.
At least one injury was reported when a home was struck in west of Oden, Arkansas. Arkansas Emergency Management reported having trouble reaching the location because of the number of trees blocking on the road. Property damage and power lines are down across the region. Continue reading →
