‘Historic’ wind storm slams into central U.S. Wednesday

Half the Lower 48 states were facing a dangerous weather event Wednesday into the night as an extremely powerful storm system swept through the middle of the country unleashing damaging winds and, in some areas, the potential for tornadoes and out of control fires. The conditions are anticipated to be so severe that the National Weather Service is calling it a “historical weather day.”

“The Central U.S. has never seen a December storm like this,” tweeted Bill Karins, a meteorologist for MSNBC. “Multi-hazard, life-threatening weather today.”

From New Mexico to Michigan, more than 36 million people were under high-wind warnings. The winds, exceeding 70 mph in some locations, were expected to damage structures, topple trees and cause many thousands of power outages while contributing to hazardous ground and air travel. Denver, Omaha and Des Moines could all see gusts over 60 mph. In Boulder, Colo., gusts could reach 100 mph.

The threat of severe thunderstorms was historically high in the zone from central Iowa to southeast Minnesota.