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Forecast warns of possible winter storms in the United States during Thanksgiving week

Umito November 25, 2024

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| Associated Press

Windsor, California. — Forecasters across the United States have issued warnings that a new round of winter weather could complicate travel as the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, while California and Washington state continue to recover from the damage caused by storms and power outages.

In California, where two people were found dead in floodwaters on Saturday, authorities were bracing for more rain while dealing with flooding and small landslides from a previous storm.

The National Weather Service office in Sacramento, California, has issued a winter storm warning for the Sierra Nevada through Tuesday, with heavy snow expected at higher elevations and wind gusts up to 55 mph ( 88 km/h). Snowfall totals of about 4 feet (1.2 meters) were forecast, with the heaviest accumulations expected Monday and Tuesday.

The Midwest and Great Lakes regions will see rain and snow Monday and the East Coast will be hardest hit over Thanksgiving and Black Friday, forecasters said.

A low pressure system is expected to bring rain to the Southeast early Thursday before moving northeast. Areas from Boston to New York could see rain and breezes, with snow possible in parts of northern New Hampshire, northern Maine and the Adirondacks. If the system moves further inland, there could be less snow and more rain in the mountains, forecasters said.

“The system doesn’t look like a power plant right now,” Hayden Frank, a meteorologist with the Massachusetts Weather Service, said Sunday. “Basically this is going to bring rain to the I-95 corridor, so travelers should prepare for wet weather. Unless the system is much colder, it looks like rain.

Frank said he doesn’t see any major storm systems arriving this weekend in the country, so travelers returning home Sunday can expect good driving conditions. However, temperatures will drop in the East while they will warm up in the West.

More rain expected after deadly ‘bomb cyclone’ hits west coast

Two people died in the Pacific Northwest after a rapidly intensifying “bomb cyclone” hit the West Coast last Tuesday, bringing strong winds that toppled trees and power lines and damaged houses and cars. Hundreds of thousands of people lost power in Washington state before powerful gusts and record rains pummeled Northern California. About 30,000 people in the Seattle area were still without power Sunday.

Two bodies were found Saturday in the wine country of Sonoma County, north of San Francisco, authorities said. Someone walking on a trail near Santa Rosa found a man’s body in a swollen creek, according to the sheriff’s department. Hours later, rescue crews found a body inside a vehicle floating in floodwaters near Guerneville, Deputy Rob Dillion said. Investigators are trying to determine if the deaths are storm-related.

Santa Rosa experienced its wettest three-day stretch on record with about 12 inches of rain Friday night, the National Weather Service in the San Francisco Bay Area reported. Vineyards in the nearby town of Windsor were flooded.

Forecasters said the risk of flooding and mudslides remained as the region receives more rain starting Sunday. But the latest storm won’t be as intense as last week’s atmospheric river, a long plume of moisture that forms over an ocean and flows over land.

“However, there are still threats, smaller threats, and less significant in terms of magnitude, that will continue to exist on the West Coast over the next two to three days,” said Rich Otto, service forecaster. meteorological.

As rain moves eastward throughout the week, Otto said, there is a risk of heavy snow at higher elevations in the Sierra Nevada, as well as parts of Utah and from Colorado.

The northeast receives the necessary precipitation

Through Thanksgiving, parts of the Midwest and East Coast can expect heavy rain, and there is a chance of snow in the Northeast states.

A storm last week brought rain to New York and New Jersey, where rare wildfires have raged in recent weeks, and heavy snow to northeastern Pennsylvania. Precipitation is expected to help alleviate drought conditions following an exceptionally dry fall.

“It’s not going to combat the drought, but it’s certainly going to help when all this melts away,” said Bryan Greenblatt, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Binghamton, New York.

Heavy snow fell across northeastern Pennsylvania, including the Pocono Mountains. Higher elevations were reported up to 17 inches (43 centimeters), with lower accumulations in Valley cities including Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. About 35,000 customers in 10 counties were still without power, down from 80,000 a day ago.

In New York’s Catskills region, nearly 10,000 people were still without power Sunday morning, two days after a storm dumped heavy snow on parts of the region.

Rainfall in West Virginia helped put a stop to the worst drought the state has seen in at least two decades and has boosted ski resorts as they prepare to open their slopes in the coming weeks.