‘Bomb cyclone’ blizzard kills one
The second “bomb cyclone” in a month roared through the central U.S. Thursday, a massive, historic storm wave that knocked out power in California and blasted the Upper Midwest with heavy snow and high winds.
One person has died because of the storm, in a crash involving two vehicles near Denver International Airport.
Areas of Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Minnesota were slammed with blizzard conditions on Thursday.
A bomb cyclone is a storm that intensifies rapidly, which this one did on Tuesday into Wednesday.
Difficult to impossible travel conditions and power outages were expected, the National Weather Service warned.
“In the swath of heaviest snow, disruptions to travel, including flight cancellations and road closures, will continue to mount,” AccuWeather meteorologist Dan Pydynowski said Thursday.
More than 700 flights already were canceled early Thursday in and out of major airports in Denver and Minneapolis. Denver alone had more than 750 flights canceled Wednesday.
Parts of South Dakota, Nebraska and Minnesota could see up to two feet of snow before the storm moves out Friday, AccuWeather said. The Minnesota State Patrol reported more than 300 car accidents on Wednesday and Thursday, including 40 with injuries. The total included 46 jackknifed semitrailer trucks. “Troopers are responding to more jackknifed semis than I can remember,” according to a tweet from the state patrol.
In South Dakota, the state patrol tweeted “If you were thinking about traveling today in the Aberdeen area, think again.”
As of midday Thursday, the highest snow total from the storm was 18 inches, in Mud Butte and Dupree, South Dakota.
In Colorado, a 150-mile swath of Interstate 76 was shut down. In South Dakota, a long stretch of Interstate 29 and almost 300 miles of Interstate 90 were shut down. A “no travel” advisory was in effect for the entire state east of the Missouri River.
“Blizzard conditions will continue across the area today into Friday morning,” the weather service said.
In Nebraska, the State Patrol was sending additional troopers into the panhandle, and officials closed Interstate 80 in that area as the system dubbed “Winter Storm Wesley” by the Weather Channel took its toll.
“This storm is going to be dangerous,” Patrol Maj. Russ Stanczyk said.
As of late Thursday, more than 80,000 homes and businesses were without power in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, South Dakota and Iowa, poweroutage.us reported. Earlier, high winds knocked out power to 50,000 in Southern California and kicked up dramatic dust storms in Nevada, AccuWeather said.
The storm was expected to affect as many as 200 million Americans before it finally quiets at week’s end, AccuWeather said.
Some areas were being blasted by snowfall rates of two inches per hour. The weather service also reported “thundersnow” on both Wednesday and Thursday – thunder and lightning accompanied by snow instead of rain.
The first “bomb cyclone” struck the region in mid-March, dropping heavy snow and leaving hundreds of vehicles stranded in whiteout conditions.