More than 90 million Americans are on their way to a strong winter storm that started with snow, strong winds and intense cold in eastern Dakotas and western Minnesota on Wednesday morning. Then it started to move east, making treacherous travel and land flights one of the most anticipated air travel days since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
Areas such as Norfolk, Virginia, and Raleigh, North Carolina, may be at risk of tornadoes on Thursday, CBS New York meteorologist Lonnie Quinn said in “CBS Evening News”.
The wind can reach “gusts of 50, 60, 70 mph in downtown New York, in downtown Boston. Mount Washington may well come close to setting a record with winds of more than 150 mph,” said Quinn, warning that there may be a power outage at Christmas in the Northeast.
Blizzard warnings were posted in the region while National Weather Service officials were calling for the winds to drop below 35 degrees Fahrenheit, driven by gusts of more than 60 mph. Numerous travel notices urged drivers to stay off the road and several highways were closed completely.
“Winter has come to the area,” said Greg Gust, a meteorologist at the meteorological service in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
CBS News meteorologist and climate expert Jeff Berardelli explained on Thursday that the storm is being caused by an unusual storm line that is sweeping the country. A storm line is a group of storms arranged in a line, usually accompanied by strong wind and heavy rain.
The storm was moving from southeastern Minnesota to Eau Claire, Wisconsin and northern Michigan on Wednesday night. The heaviest strip of snow stretched from Iron Range in northeastern Minnesota to Watertown in eastern South Dakota, Gust said.
Berardelli said the same storm system led to a tornado alert from Mobile, Alabama, to Pensacola, Florida, as well as the Carolinas, particularly the Raleigh, North Carolina area.
Further north cities, like Pittsburgh and Buffalo, can see a white Christmas when the rain changes to snow, while the Washington, DC region to Philadelphia, New York and Boston can expect strong winds of up to 70 miles per hour. Gusts can cause significant power outages in these areas on Christmas morning.
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The storm was falling in the Twin Cities area on Wednesday afternoon, where Gust said at least 20 centimeters of snow was expected.
Minneapolis-St. Paul’s airport had about 300 flight cancellations and 40 delays on Wednesday afternoon, said airport spokesman Patrick Hogan. It is expected to be the third busiest day of the Christmas vacation travel period, behind this coming Sunday and Saturday, he said.
“Many people made it out this morning, but it can be difficult to go this afternoon and evening,” said Hogan.
Earlier in the day, a large group of people showed up at Hector International Airport in Fargo, North Dakota, only to find that most flights were canceled due to high winds and poor visibility.
“Today would probably be our busiest day since COVID started or definitely just before Thanksgiving,” said Shawn Dobberstein, executive director of the Fargo Airport Authority. “Our building was very full this morning when American, Delta and United decided to cancel some flights.”
Andy Clayton-King / AP
Authorities in southeastern South Dakota responded to several vehicle pileups on Wednesday, including one on I-29 north of Sioux Falls involving at least a dozen cars and a dozen semi-trailers, according to the Dell Rapids volunteer firefighter Rick Morris. He said there were several casualties without risk of death and some emergency response vehicles were trapped, reported Leader Argus.
Other drivers in eastern North and South Dakota chose to wait for the storm to end. The Coffee Cup Travel Plaza, one of the few stops on I-94 in northeastern South Dakota, was quiet on Wednesday morning, said Dani Zubke, a store employee near the town of Summit.
“There are blizzards, low visibility and no recommended trips,” she said. “It’s been very slow. I don’t know if there are a lot of people out there. Sometimes you can only see the end of our parking lot.”