Blizzards swept across Iowa and eastern Nebraska over the weekend, closing a major interstate highway as cars and trucks slid off the road. At least one person died in a crash caused by icy roads in Nebraska.
The National Weather Service in Des Moines issued a dense fog warning Saturday that will remain in effect until 11 a.m. Sunday. Dense fog blanketed much of the state, reducing visibility to 1/4 mile or less in some places, the weather service said. Forecasters said the snow had turned to mainly freezing rain by Saturday evening, but roads in eastern Iowa were still at least partially covered with snow or ice.
A man died while driving on icy roads in eastern Nebraska, authorities said. A 57-year-old woman has died after she lost control of her pickup truck and collided with an oncoming truck on Highway 30 near Arlington, the Washington County Sheriff's Office said. The other driver suffered minor injuries in the accident. Washington County is located near Omaha, close to the eastern Nebraska border with Iowa.
Roads in the area were so smooth on Saturday that ice hockey could be played on the street, as one man was seen doing in a social media video Which was reposted by the National Weather Service in Omaha. The warning of dense fog also continued in the area till 11 am on Sunday.
“Dense fog continues across our area and is expected to persist through tomorrow morning,” the National Weather Service in Omaha wrote in an advisory Saturday night. “At times visibility is reduced to less than a quarter mile and light spots are developing again on some roadways, please use caution and slow down if you are out!”
Forecasters have warned that untreated roads could freeze again overnight as temperatures drop.
When the storm hit Friday evening, many events across the region were canceled and businesses announced plans to open late Saturday night as officials urged people to stay home if possible. However, the temperature rose so much in the afternoon that the snow melted at most places.
“Fortunately there's some warm air coming in behind it that makes it temporary,” said meteorologist Dave Cousins of the National Weather Service's office in Davenport, Iowa.
Elsewhere, storm surge and wind gusts of up to 60 mph prompted the first tornado warning in San Francisco and caused some damage. Parts of neighboring San Mateo County were also included in the warning, which was issued at 5:51 a.m. for about 1 million people and lifted about 20 minutes later.
Later Saturday, a Tornado approaches a shopping mall The National Weather Service said cars were overturned and trees and utility poles were downed in Scotts Valley near the city of Santa Cruz, about 70 miles south of San Francisco.
Livermore Police Department via AP
“Based on video, photos, first-hand accounts and radar signatures, a tornado occurred at (1:40 p.m.) PT,” the service said, adding that a team will investigate and provide a ranking.
Images uploaded to social media showed at least three vehicles on their hoods or sides, with their windshields shattered and trees and power lines on the ground.
The Scotts Valley Police Department said several people were injured and taken to hospitals.
“The tornado caused widespread damage in several areas, including overturning numerous vehicles in and around the shopping district on Mount Hermon Drive,” the department said in a statement. It asked people to stay away from the area.
KSBW-TV reported that one of the injured was a battalion chief with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
In San Francisco, some trees fell on cars and roads and roofs were damaged. According to the weather service, the city has not seen a tornado since 2005. Damage assessments were being conducted to determine whether the city was actually hit by the tornado.
Roger Gass, a meteorologist with the Weather Service in Monterey, California, said, “This was the first warning for a possible tornado in San Francisco. I think there was no obvious signature on radar for a warning in 2005.” He said that he was not there in 2005.
Residents were warned to take shelter due to the fast-moving storm, but very few people in the area have basements.
“The biggest thing we tell people in the city is to build as many walls as possible between you and the outside,” meteorologist Dalton Behringer said.
People were digging after heavy snowfall in upstate New York. More than 33 inches of rain was recorded near Orchard Park, where residents are accustomed to dealing with lake-effect snow this time of year.
And in Nevada, up to 3 feet of snowfall was estimated on the Sierra Nevada mountain peaks. More than a foot (30 cm) of rain fell at some Lake Tahoe ski resorts, and winds of 112 mph were recorded at the Mammoth Mountain resort south of Yosemite National Park, according to the National Weather Service's Reno office.
The winter storm warning was scheduled to expire Saturday at 10 p.m. PT, but an avalanche warning at elevations above 8,000 feet around Tahoe remained in effect until the next night.
Interstate 80 was closed for 80 miles from Applegate, California to the Nevada line just west of Reno, where rain was falling and a winter weather advisory was in effect until the afternoon. The California Highway Patrol reopened the road in the afternoon to passenger vehicles with chains or four-wheel drive and snow tires, although it remained closed to semitrailer trucks.
Thousands of people lost power in Western Washington on Saturday amid a system that brought rain and high winds, local news outlets reported.