An ice storm hit 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 due to icy roads in Nebraska.
The National Weather Service in Des Moines issued a dense fog warning Saturday that would remain in effect until 11 a.m. Sunday. Thick fog spread across much of the state, reducing visibility to 1/4 mile or less in some places, the weather service said. The ice had turned to mostly freezing rain by Saturday evening, but roads in eastern Iowa were still at least partially covered with ice or snow, forecasters said.
Authorities say one person has died while driving on icy roads in eastern Nebraska. The Washington County Sheriff’s Office said a 57-year-old woman died in a crash after she lost control of her pickup truck on Interstate 30 near Arlington and crashed into a truck that was approached The other driver was slightly injured in the accident. Washington County is located near Nebraska’s eastern border with Iowa, near Omaha.
The roads in this area were smooth enough on Saturday to play ice hockey on the street, as one person was seen doing. in a social media video which the National Weather Service in Omaha reissued. A dense fog warning was also in effect for the region until 11 a.m. CT Sunday.
“Dense fog continues to develop in our area and is expected to last into tomorrow morning,” the National Weather Service in Omaha wrote in an advisory Saturday night. “With visibilities below a quarter of a mile at times and slick spots being resurfaced on some roads, please use caution and take it easy if you’re out!”
Forecasters warned untreated roads could re-freeze overnight as temperatures drop.
Many events were canceled across the region when the storm hit Friday evening, and businesses announced plans to open Saturday afternoon as officials urged people to stay home if possible. . However, temperatures rose enough in the afternoon to melt the ice in most places.
“Fortunately, some warmer air is moving behind this to make it temporary,” said Dave Cousins, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Davenport, Iowa.
Elsewhere, a storm 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 went out at 5:51 a.m. to nearly a million people and was lifted about 20 minutes later.
Later Saturday, a tornado touched down near a shopping mall in Scotts Valley, near the city of Santa Cruz about 70 miles south of San Francisco, overturning cars and downing trees and poles, the National Weather Service said.
Livermore Police Department via AP
“Based on video, photos, first-hand accounts and radar signatures, a tornado occurred (at) 1:40 PM,” the service said, adding that a team will investigate and provide a classification.
Images posted on social media showed at least three vehicles on their hoods or on their sides, with smashed windshields and trees and power lines on the ground.
Several people were injured and taken to hospitals, the Scotts Valley Police Department said.
“The tornado has caused extensive damage in several areas, including overturning several vehicles in the Mt. Hermon Drive business district,” the department said in a statement. He asked people to avoid the area.
One of the injured was a battalion chief with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, KSBW-TV reported.
In San Francisco, some trees fell on cars and streets and damaged roofs. The city hasn’t seen a tornado since 2005, according to the Weather Service. Damage was being assessed to determine if the city was actually hit by a tornado.
“This was the first warning of a possible tornado in San Francisco. I guess there wasn’t a clear radar signature for a warning in 2005,” said Roger Gass, a meteorologist with the Weather Service in Monterey, California. He said he wasn’t there in 2005.
The fast-moving storm prompted warnings for residents to shelter in place, but few people have basements in the area.
“The biggest thing we tell people in the city is to put as many walls between you and the outside as possible,” said meteorologist Dalton Behringer.
In upstate New York, people were digging after heavy snow fell. More than 33 inches were reported near Orchard Park, where residents are used to dealing with lake-effect snow this time of year.
And in Nevada, up to 3 feet of snow was forecast for the Sierra Nevada peaks. More than a foot (30 cm) fell at some Lake Tahoe ski resorts and a 112 mph wind gust was reported at Mammoth Mountain Resort in southern Yosemite National Park, the bureau said of Reno from the National Weather Service.
A winter storm warning was set to expire at 10pm PT on Saturday, but an avalanche warning remained in effect overnight for elevations above 8,000 feet around Tahoe.
Interstate 80 was closed for an 80-mile stretch from Applegate, Calif., to the Nevada line just west of Reno, where rain fell and a winter weather advisory was in effect for 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 semi-trailer trucks.
In western Washington, tens of thousands of people lost power Saturday, local media reported, amid a system that brought rain and strong winds.