OMAHA, Neb. – Severe weather hit various regions of the U.S. over the weekend, bringing heavy snow to upstate New York, a significant ice storm in the Midwest, severe weather warnings near Lake Tahoe, and unusual tornado activity in Central California. The inclement weather disrupted normal activities and posed dangers in these areas.
The ice storm that started on Friday resulted in hazardous driving conditions in Iowa and eastern Nebraska. As a consequence, Interstate 80 had to be temporarily shut down due to multiple accidents caused by cars and trucks sliding off the road. Meanwhile, upstate New York experienced over 33 inches (84 centimeters) of snow near Orchard Park, a common area for heavy lake-effect snow.
On Saturday, a tornado struck near a shopping mall in Scotts Valley, California, causing significant damage. This tornado, located approximately 70 miles (110 kilometers) south of San Francisco, hit around 1:40 p.m. The aftermath included overturned cars, fallen trees, and damaged utility poles. Several injuries were reported, and affected individuals were transported to nearby hospitals for treatment.
Some trees toppled onto cars and streets and damaged roofs in San Francisco. The damage was being assessed to determine if the city was indeed hit by a tornado, which had not occurred since 2005, according to the weather service.
Roger Gass, a meteorologist in the weather service’s office in Monterey, California, said the warning of a possible tornado in San Francisco was a first for the city, noting an advanced alert did not go out before the last tornado struck nearly 20 years ago.
“I would guess there wasn’t a clear signature on radar for a warning in 2005,” said Gass, who was not there at the time.
The fast-moving storm prompted warnings for residents to take shelter, but few people have basements in the area.
“The biggest thing that we tell people in the city is to put as many walls between you and the outside as possible,” Meteorologist Dalton Behringer said.
More than a foot (30 centimeters) of snow fell at some Lake Tahoe ski resorts, and a 112-mph (181-kph) gust of wind was recorded at the Mammoth Mountain resort south of Yosemite National Park, according to the weather service’s office in Reno, Nevada. Up to 3 feet (91 centimeters) of snow was forecast for Sierra Nevada mountaintops.
The Tahoe Live music festival at Palisades Tahoe ski resort in California was expected to go ahead as planned Saturday and Sunday in spite of a winter storm warning for the area. Lil Wayne was scheduled to perform Saturday night, with Diplo as the headliner on Sunday, the festival’s website said.
A winter storm warning was set to expire at 10 p.m. Saturday, but an avalanche warning remained in effect into the following night for elevations above 8,000 feet (about 2,400 meters) around Tahoe.
Interstate 80 was closed along an 80-mile (130-kilometer) stretch from Applegate, California, to the Nevada line just west of Reno on Saturday. The California Highway Patrol reopened the road in the afternoon for passenger vehicles with chains or four-wheel drive and snow tires.
The severe weather in the Midwest resulted in at least one death. The Washington County Sheriff’s office in Nebraska said a 57-year-old woman died after she lost control of her pickup on Highway 30 near Arlington and hit an oncoming truck. The other driver sustained minor injuries.
Businesses announced plans to open late Saturday as temperatures rose high enough in the afternoon to melt the ice in most places.
“Luckily some warmer air is moving in behind this to make it temporary,” said Dave Cousins, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s office in Davenport, Iowa.
Tens of thousands of people in western Washington state lost electricity Saturday as the system delivered rain and gusty winds, local news outlets reported.
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Associated Press reporters Olga R. Rodriguez in San Francisco, Julie Walker in New York, Becky Bohrer in Juneau, Alaska, and Scott Sonner in Reno, Nevada, contributed.
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