California weather — Flood and avalanches warning amid ‘life and death’ warning for homeless people
California’s first blizzard warning since 1989
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Your support makes all the difference.California weathered a punishing weekend of heavy snow, torrential rain and bitterly cold temperatures.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the conditions were posed “a matter of life or death for many of our unhoused neighbors,” and asked resident to help those without permanent shelter find emergency lodgings during the storm.
The storms triggered the state’s first blizzard warning since 1989 with record snowfall forecast in some high-elevation areas. Up to 8ft of snow was forecasted to fall in the mountains outside of Los Angeles on the storm’s second day. The National Weather Service warned that travel would be very difficult to impossible.
The storm also brought the threat of ocean water spouts and land-based tornadoes in the Los Angeles area of southeast Santa Barbara and southern Ventura counties.
A coast-to-coast winter storm pummeled much of the western and northern United States, styming travel plans and leaving nearly 1million people without power.
But the country was a landscape of climate extremes: While deep Arctic air caused temperatures to plummet as much as 30 to 40 degrees below average in parts of the West and Plains, the US also experienced its first 100-degree day of 2023. Falcon Lake in Texas hit 100F on Wednesday as temperature records were broken across the Southwest.
Nearly one million without power
Nearly one million people were without power across United States on Thursday.
The most heavily-impacted areas were in the Midwest and Northeast. More than 681,000 people in Michigan were in blackout, 84,000 in Illinois and 58,000 in Wisconsin.
Air travel woes continue
The latest brief from the National Weather Service
The latest short-range forecast from the National Weather Service was issued on Thursday at 2.27am (EST), stating that:
- Heavy snow is coming across the terrain of California and heavy rainfall across southern parts of the state
- More heavy snow and significant ice in some areas will stretch from the Great Lakes to the Northeast
- Record-breaking warmth expected over the East throughout Thursday
-Extreme cold will grip the Northern Plains and the Intermountain West
Watch: Highway patrol trooper has narrow escape from truck on icy interstate
800 flights cancelled over historic winter storm - here’s what you need to know
Some 800 flights have been cancelled in the United States as Winter Storm Olive brings heavy snowfall, significant ice and dangerous whiteout conditions from coast to coast.
The storm, which prompted the National Weather Service to issueweather warnings in more than two dozen states, began Tuesday and will continue through the end of the week.
The winter storm has already impacted travel, with tracking site FlightAware reporting that 800 flights were cancelled in the US on Thursday morning. An additional 1,305 were delayed as of 10am ET.
How can you find out whether your flight is cancelled and what are your rights?
Winter weather alerts have been issued in more than two dozen states
In Pictures: Winter Storm Olive
First 100-degree day of 2023
The first 100 degree (Fahrenheit) day of 2023 arrived in the United States on Wednesday.
Falcon Lake, Texas hit 100F (37.8C), reported the climatologist and weather historian Max Herrera on his Twitter account Extreme Temperatures Around the World.
Falcon Lake is a reservoir on the Rio Grande about 40 miles south of Laredo, Texas.
As the US north shivered, daily heat records were being broken across parts of the south and southeast this week.
“Atlanta rose above 80F in winter for the first time in its history,” Herrera added.
A smorgasbord of severe weather
The National Weather Service’s Cleveland office summed up the wild variation in extreme conditions across the United States this week in this map below.
Nearly every region was experiencing severe conditions, from heavy snow and blizzards across the Midwest to significant ice in the Northeast and high winds and fire danger in the Southwest.
Watch: How much snow has fallen in Minnesota?
Air travel update
More than 1,600 flights have been cancelled in the United States as Winter Storm Olive brings heavy snowfall, significant ice and dangerous whiteout conditions from coast to coast.
The storm, which prompted the National Weather Service to issue weather warnings in more than two dozen states, began Tuesday and will continue through the end of the week.
The winter storm has already impacted travel, with tracking site FlightAware reporting that 1,600 flights were cancelled in the US on Thursday morning. An additional 5,000 flights were delayed on Thursday morning,
More than 400 of those were heading in or out of Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Chicago’s O’Hare, Boston Logan and Detroit Metro were also badly impacted.
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