Storms sweep the US from coast to coast causing frigid temps, power outages and traffic accidents

BOSTON — Heavy rain and quarter-sized hail fell in Southern California on Sunday as the National Weather Service forecast lightning and wind gusts approaching 60 miles per hour in the mountain region earlier in the day.

The California storm moved south from the Sierra Nevada, where areas around Lake Tahoe received about a foot of new snow and Mammoth Mountain reported up to 18 inches by Sunday morning. A day earlier, the resort was forced to close several ski lifts after a wind gust of 147 km/h was recorded.

A 35-year-old woman was rescued after being swept away in the storm-swollen Los Angeles River, the LA Fire Department said. She was taken to a hospital with minor injuries and hypothermia, the department said.

The National Weather Service also warned of what it called a significant winter storm over the country’s central regions through Monday.

“The winter storm will have a major impact and produce an extensive system that will produce widespread heavy snow and gusty winds that will persist across portions of the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest,” the agency said in an online message.

Heavy snow is expected to spread across central and eastern Montana and extend into the Northern Plains and upper Midwest through Sunday and Monday. There is a better than 70% chance of at least 8 inches of snow moving from central South Dakota to northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin, the weather service reported.

Police in the Northeast reported hundreds of traffic accidents as cars spun out and drivers struggled with icy roads, while Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia and Boston also experienced heavy rain and flooding.

Thousands of hardy souls in New England spent Sunday digging after a massive weekend storm dumped more than 2 feet of snow in some areas, causing multiple traffic accidents, downing power lines and trees and leaving hundreds of thousands in the dark. , some perhaps for days, in Vermont, New Hampshire and most of Maine.

Many areas in the Northeast received totals of 8 to 12 inches of snow, with some of the highest totals exceeding 30 inches in south-central Vermont, said Zack Taylor, a meteorologist for National Weather. Employ.

“So overall it was a pretty big winter storm and for some areas this was the most snow they’ve seen all winter with a single storm,” Taylor said.

Central Maine Power, the state’s largest utility, said crews began cleaning up damage and repairing downed lines on Sunday, but the company expected a multi-day effort in areas hardest hit by the storm. About 170,000 customers were without power in Maine on Sunday evening.

“Damage to trees, poles and wires was significant on Saturday overnight and our experts are taking stock of the damage today so we can begin restoring power to our customers as quickly and safely as possible,” said Jon Breed, spokesperson from Central Maine Power. .

In Portland, Maine, city officials opened a warming center at the East End Community School for residents without power who needed a warm place to visit, charge electronics or sleep from Sunday evening through Monday morning.

Another 54,000 customers were without power in New Hampshire. The New Hampshire Department of Safety announced Sunday that it had activated an emergency operations center to help local communities clean up from the storm, including those experiencing significant power outages.

In New York, more than 57,000 customers were without power late Sunday, compared to more than 90,000 earlier in the day. Areas north of New York City were among the hardest hit, according to online maps from National Grid and PowerOutage.us, a power outage tracking website.

In New York City, floodwaters destroyed the subway, closed part of the Cross Island Parkway and left motorists stranded on flooded roads through Central Park, where more than 9 inches of rain fell. On Fifth Avenue, a giant tree fell over several cars, leading to a road closure.

In Lodi, New Jersey, flooding from the Saddle River inundated nearby roads.

The combination of sleet, freezing rain and heavy wet snow that toppled trees and power lines was also responsible for hundreds of delayed and canceled flights at area airports.

Cold weather fans, including skiers, enjoyed the snow from coast to coast.

Kevin Bell, vice president of marketing for Loon Mountain in New Hampshire’s White Mountains, said the more snow New England gets, the better it is for ski areas operating in the late season.

Taylor said another significant winter storm is developing in the West and will last through Monday across much of the Rockies, the Plains and the upper Midwest. The National Weather Service warned of heavy snow and blizzard conditions in the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest continuing into Tuesday.

That system is expected to bring heavy snow to parts of Wisconsin, Minnesota, much of the Dakotas and even Nebraska and western Kansas with a potential of 8 to 12 inches of snow, with higher amounts in eastern Dakota and parts of central Minnesota. , Taylor said.

“We’re looking at a pretty strong area of ​​low pressure developing across Kansas this evening and then moving quickly toward the upper Midwest late Monday into early Tuesday,” he said.

A winter weather advisory was also issued through Sunday evening for parts of northern Arizona, the Grand Canyon and Flagstaff to the New Mexico border, with up to 6 inches of snow possible at higher elevations and wind gusts up to 40 mph. km/h).

The weather service said snow showers were expected at elevations around 5,000 to 6,000 feet (1.5 to 1.8 kilometers) through Sunday night.

Variable weather with additional rain and snow showers was forecast for the Flagstaff, Arizona area on Monday and Tuesday, while another storm system could reach northern Arizona next weekend.

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Associated Press writers Phil Marcelo in East Meadow, New York; Julie Walker in New York; Walter Berry in Phoenix; and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed to this report.