Tornadoes, high winds sweep Southern Plains
OKLAHOMA CITY — Parts of the Southern Plains counted the injured and surveyed the damage Monday after tornadoes and other powerful winds swept through, killing at least one person in Oklahoma, while some Michigan residents faced a fifth consecutive day without power following last week’s ice storm.
In California, the National Weather Service said winter storms will continue moving into the state through Wednesday after residents got a brief break from severe weather Sunday.
Parts of the Northeast that have seen little snow this winter were under a winter storm warning. And forecasters warned of continued high winds in parts of the Plains and of thunderstorms and possible tornadoes in the Ohio Valley.
A look at the weather threats around the country:
Tornadoes
Thunderstorms were forecast Monday to produce damaging gusts across the Ohio Valley, according to the Storm Prediction Center. The weather service forecast strong winds Monday in Kansas and Missouri, with gusts topping 60 mph.
The storm system produced at least four tornadoes as it moved across central and northeastern Illinois on Monday, including two that formed in suburbs west of Chicago, authorities said.
At least one person was killed and three others injured after a tornado touched down Sunday night in far western Oklahoma near Cheyenne, where 20 homes were damaged and four others destroyed, Roger Mills County Emergency Manager Levi Black-ketter reported.
Officials in Norman, Okla., confirmed 12 weather-related injuries after tornadoes and wind gusts as high as 90 mph were reported in the state Sunday night.
Frances Tabler, of Norman, told KOCO-TV that she suffered a small cut on her head when a storm hit her home, tearing off much of its roof and sending debris flying.
“It was just like a blizzard in the house with all the debris flying,” Tabler told KOCO. “I was screaming for my kids.”
Blizzards
Blizzard warnings went into effect Monday in the Sierra Nevada range as more rounds of rain and snow moved into California and Nevada.
A blizzard warning was in effect for most of the Sierra Nevada into Wednesday and an avalanche warning was issued for the backcountry around Lake Tahoe, where up to 6 feet of snow was expected over the next two days in the upper elevations and gale-force winds could create waves up to 5 feet high on the lake, the National Weather Service in Reno said.
The new series of storms arrived even as parts of California were still digging out from last week’s powerful storm.
East of Los Angeles, roads to San Bernardino Mountain resort communities around Big Bear Lake were reopening after closures because of last week’s huge snowfall. The storm stranded more than 600 students at science camps in the Big Bear area over the weekend. The California Highway Patrol began escorting out buses carrying the students on Monday, the Irvine Unified School District said.
Storms
In Michigan, still reeling from last week’s ice storm and high winds, more than 180,000 customers were without power Monday, according to PowerOutage.us. That was down from more than 800,000 at one point last week. Crews continued their work to restore all electricity.
Leah Thomas, whose home north of Detroit lost power Wednesday, finally got it back Sunday — only to have it go out again at midday Monday.
“It’s very frustrating, very frustrating,” she said. “I’m just going to hope and cross my fingers that it comes back on here soon.”
Southern New England braced for what could be the most significant snowfall of what has so far been a mild winter.
A winter storm warning covered Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island.
Boston could get 5 inches and as much as 10 inches could fall in western Massachusetts, northwest Connecticut and southern Vermont.