Washington (EFE).- Two winter storms with rain, snow and wind extend this Thursday from coast to coast in the United States, creating dangerous conditions for travel, indicated the National Weather Service (NWS, in English).
There are ice storm warnings from central Iowa to southern Michigan, and snow advisories for parts of Wyoming, southeastern North Dakota, northeastern South Dakota and portions of Wisconsin, the agency said.
Also in much of the Plains, the Midwest and New England, he added.
By early morning, almost 1,600 flights had been canceled by the storm meteorologists have dubbed “Olive,” according to flightaware.com.
Nearly a million homes and businesses were without power across the country, with 724,100 of them in Michigan alone, poweroutage.us reported.
Matt Paul, vice president of DTE, the largest electric power provider in Michigan, said in a statement that ice accumulations of up to 200 millimeters have been observed throughout the southeastern part of the state that have caused “extreme levels of damage” to infrastructure.
Alert for snow during storms
Tens of thousands of miles of Interstate 90 are closed to traffic in southwestern Minnesota due to snowfall and low visibility, and in Utah state police have responded to more than 230 vehicle collisions.
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers declared a state of emergency last night, saying in a statement that “during and after a winter storm, restoring power is crucial.”
The NWS indicated possible snow accumulations of up to 27 inches (685 millimeters) in Sugar Loaf, Wisconsin, 11 inches (280 millimeters) in Clark, Colorado, and 13 inches (330 millimeters) in Benoit, Wisconsin.
Through Thursday and Friday, the Weather Service forecasts that the threat of heavy snow in large portions of the Western region will focus on California as a new system developing off the western coast moves south.
“For the first time this century, there are snow warnings in the mountains of southern California,” said meteorologist Danielle Banks of the Weather Channel. “The advisories cover areas from Santa Barbara to north Los Angeles,” she concluded.
