Tornadoes and severe winds strike central US as another round of rain and snow to pummel the West and North



CNN
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As severe winds prompted overnight tornado reports in parts of the central US, another series of storms bringing snow, rain and harsh winds are expected to stretch from Washington state to southern California and across the Great Lakes region on Monday, pummeling areas where hundreds of thousands are still without power after a similar barrage of severe weather last week.

At least two tornadoes were confirmed in Oklahoma, where more than 50,000 energy customers were without power late Sunday evening, according to outage tracker PowerOutage.us.

More than 90 other storm reports – including wind and hail – were recorded in parts of Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas as hurricane-force winds and severe thunderstorms tore through the states. A gust of 114 mph was recorded In Memphis, Texas – equivalent to a category 3 hurricane.

In anticipation of severe winds and potential hail Sunday night and into Monday, an Air Force unit at McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, Kansas, relocated most of its aircraft to protect them from damage and ensure they can still be deployed if needed, the base announced.

In the West – where last week’s storms prompted rare blizzard warnings and road flooding in California – rain and high-elevation snow will push from the Pacific Northwest down into California and into the Rockies through Monday.

Yosemite National Park was closed Saturday due to severe weather and will not reopen until at least Wednesday as a multi-day blizzard warning remains in effect across Yosemite Valley, the park announced. Yosemite Valley could see as much as 55 to 84 inches of snow by Wednesday, the park said.

Wind turbines near Mohave, California, are surrounded by fresh snow on February 26, 2023.

Approximately 360,000 homes and businesses were without power across the US as of early Monday, nearly half of which were in Michigan, where the Great Lakes region is bracing for another round of ice and snow on Monday after being struck by last week’s multi-day storm.

The winter storm is then expected to push into the Northeast by Monday afternoon, where interior parts of the region could see widespread snowfall totals of 6 to 12 inches.

Meanwhile, the South is anticipating another week of unusually warm winter temperatures after steaming under record-breaking highs last week.

Dozens of daily high temperature records could be broken again in the coming days as areas of southern Texas and the Florida peninsula could see temperatures into the 90s.

source: cnn.com