Thanksgiving Week Could Bring Winter Storms Across the US, Forecasts Warn

Forecasters in the U.S. warned that a second round of winter weather would complicate travel before the Thanksgiving holiday. Meanwhile, California and Washington continue to recover after storm damage and power failures.

 

Authorities in California, where an individual was found dead on Saturday in a car submerged in floodwaters, braced themselves for further precipitation while battling flooding and minor landslides caused by a prior storm. After multiple days of darkness, thousands in the Pacific Northwest remain without power.

 

Sacramento’s National Weather Service issued a Winter Storm Warning for California’s Sierra Nevada from Saturday to Tuesday. Heavy snow was expected in the higher elevations, and gusts of wind could reach 55 mph. Forecasts called for a total snowfall of approximately 4 feet (1.2 meters), with the most significant accumulations occurring on Monday and Tuesday.

 

 

Forecasters say that the Midwest and Great Lakes will experience rain and snow on Monday, and the East Coast is most likely to be affected by Thanksgiving and Black Friday.

 

Early Thursday, a low-pressure system will bring rain to the Southeast before moving to the Northeast. Rain and strong winds could be expected from Boston to New York, while snowfall is possible in northern New Hampshire, northern Maine, and the Adirondacks. Forecasters say that if the system moves further inland there may be less snow in the mountains and more rain.

 

West Coast hit by deadly ‘bomb-cyclone’

 

Two people were killed by the storm that hit the Pacific Northwest earlier this week. Before the strong winds hit Northern California, hundreds of thousands were without power, mainly in the Seattle region. The “bomb cyclone” that rapidly intensified and hit the West Coast Tuesday caused fierce winds to cause damage to homes and vehicles.

 

Rescue crews recovered a body in Guerneville (California) around 11:15 a.m. on Saturday from a vehicle that was bobbing in floodwaters, said Sonoma County Sherriff’s Deputy Rob Dillion. The deceased had been presumed a victim of the storm, but an autopsy hadn’t yet taken place.

 

The National Weather Service of the Bay Area reports that Santa Rosa in California experienced its wettest period ever with 12.5 inches (32 cm) of rain on Friday evening. On Saturday, vineyards in Windsor, California were flooded.

 

 

Seattle’s power outages affect tens of thousands

 

After the strongest atmospheric river of this season, a plume that formed over an inland ocean and moved over it, some 80,000 people were still without power in the Seattle region.

 

After being without power since Tuesday, Katie Skipper was able to regain electricity in her home in North Bend. This is about 30 miles (50 km) east of Seattle. Skipper was tired after taking cold showers and heating herself with a wooden stove, as well as using a generator for the refrigerator. But she said that these inconveniences paled in contrast to the damage caused by fallen trees.

 

She said, “That’s very sad and frightening.”

 

Northeast receives needed precipitation

 

A second storm brought heavy snow and rain to northeastern Pennsylvania, where wildfires were raging in New York and New Jersey. Precipitation is expected to ease drought conditions following an unusually dry fall.

 

Bryan Greenblatt is a National Weather Service Meteorologist from Binghamton in New York.

 

Snow fell heavily in the Pocono Mountains and northeastern Pennsylvania. The higher elevations recorded up to 17″ (43 cm) of snow, with smaller accumulations in valley towns like Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. In 10 counties, less than 80,000 people lost power.

 

The precipitation in West Virginia has helped to end the worst drought the state has experienced in at least 20 years and encouraged ski resorts to prepare for opening their slopes within the next few weeks.