Winter storms hitting most regions from one coast to the other

Parts of the Northeast were gearing up for what could be heavy snow Tuesday after tornadoes and other powerful winds swept through parts of the Southern Plains, killing at least one person in Oklahoma, and some Michigan residents faced a sixth consecutive day without power following last week’s ice storm.

In California, the National Weather Service said winter storms will continue moving into the state through Wednesday after residents got a brief break from severe weather Sunday.

The Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere at Colorado State University, working with NOAA, compressed several days of storms into one view as seen from space:

A storm system produced at least four tornadoes as it moved across central and northeastern Illinois on Monday, including two that formed in suburbs west of Chicago, authorities said. Initial reports suggested damage there was limited to fallen trees or shingles torn from buildings, said Rafal Ogorek, a meteorologist in the Chicago office of the National Weather Service.

At least one person was killed and three others injured after a tornado touched down Sunday night in far western Oklahoma near the town of Cheyenne, where 20 homes were damaged and four others destroyed, Roger Mills County Emergency Manager Levi Blackketter reported.

Statewide, Oklahoma officials received reports of 55 people who suffered weather-related injuries from area hospitals.

Officials in Norman, Oklahoma, confirmed 12 weather-related injuries after tornadoes and wind gusts as high as 90 mph were reported in the state Sunday night. The winds toppled trees and power lines, closed roads and damaged homes and businesses around Norman and Shawnee.

There were reports of nine tornadoes in Kansas, Oklahoma and northwestern Texas, weather officials said. One tornado near Liberal, Kansas, damaged more than a dozen homes and caused minor injuries to one person, KSNW-TV reported.

In the West, blizzard warnings went into effect Monday in the Sierra Nevada range as more rounds of rain and snow moved into California and Nevada.

An avalanche warning was issued for the backcountry around Lake Tahoe, where up to 6 feet of snow was expected over the next two days in the upper elevations and gale-force winds could create waves up to 5 feet high on the lake, the National Weather Service in Reno said Monday. State offices across northern Nevada and the Nevada Legislature in Carson City were shut down because of the severe weather.

One Twitter user captured the scene:

The new series of storms arrived even as parts of California were still digging out from last week’s powerful storm, which added to a massive snowpack left by a siege of “atmospheric rivers” in December and January.

A 90-mile stretch of U.S. 395 in California’s eastern Sierra was shut down Monday evening due to whiteout conditions, state transportation officials said. Yosemite National Park announced it would be closed until midweek, and numerous roads were closed in Sequoia National Park. Trans-Sierra highways were subject to closures and chain requirements.

Los Angeles County declared a cold weather alert for valley and mountain areas north of L.A. as overnight temperatures were expected to plunge below freezing for much of the week. Shelters were opened for residents who don’t have access to warm spaces.

East of Los Angeles, roads to San Bernardino Mountain resort communities around Big Bear Lake were closed after snow began falling again. The storm stranded more than 600 students at science camps in the Big Bear area over the weekend. The students from Irvine in Orange County were expected home Friday but officials decided it was safer to keep them in the mountains until the roads could be cleared. The California Highway Patrol began escorting out buses carrying the kids on Monday, CBS Los Angeles said.

Big Bear was ‘critically low’ on food and fuel after all routes to and from the area were closed, trapping residents Friday, the station reported.

The northbound side of Interstate 5, the West Coast’s major north-south highway, was shut down by wintry conditions and disabled vehicles about 90 miles south of the Oregon line. Interstate 80, the major route between San Francisco and Lake Tahoe and Reno was closed due to blizzard conditions.

A winter storm warning covered parts of the Northeast, including Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island, with heavy snow forecast through Tuesday afternoon.

While not expecting a blockbuster storm by regional standards, southern New England braced for what could be the most significant snowfall of what has so far been a mild winter.  

In Michigan, still reeling from last week’s ice storm and high winds, about 158,000 customers were without power Tuesday morning, according to PowerOutage.us. That was down from more than 800,000 at one point last week. Crews continued their work to restore all electricity.