California Is Blanketed with Snow, While the Pacific Northwest Is Frozen

California Is Blanketed with Snow, While the Pacific Northwest Is Frozen

SEATTLE, Wash. (AP) – Severe weather swept over the United States, bringing bitter cold to the Pacific Northwest, heavy snow to the mountains of Northern California and Nevada, and unusually warm weather to Texas and the Southeast.

As temperatures dropped into the teens and forecasts predicted an arctic blast lasting several days, emergency warmth shelters were created across Oregon and western Washington. Snowstorms came in from the Gulf of Alaska on Sunday, depositing up to 6 inches (15 cm) of snow throughout the Seattle region.

According to the National Weather Service, Seattle’s low temperature on Sunday was 20 degrees F (-6.7 degrees C), shattering a record established in 1948. The temperature in Bellingham was 9 degrees Fahrenheit (-12. 8 degrees Celsius), three degrees lower than the previous record set in 1971.

Oregon officials have proclaimed a state of emergency. About a half-dozen weather shelters were open in Multnomah County, including Portland. Beginning Saturday and continuing until Wednesday, Seattle officials established at least six severe weather shelters.

Keith Hughes of the American Legion Hall Post 160 in West Seattle said his warming center could only accommodate approximately a dozen individuals due to a shortage of volunteer assistance.

“Volunteers, this is an issue for me and everyone else in town,” he added. “With COVID going on, it’s incredibly hard to get.”

Flights were canceled in Seattle, Minneapolis, Salt Lake City, and other cities due to the winter weather.

Meanwhile, freezing rain in the Sierra Nevada has closed major routes in Northern California and Nevada, with forecasters saying that travel in the Sierra Nevada might be difficult for many days.

Officials from the University of California, Berkeley’s Central Sierra Snow Laboratory stated that recent snowfall had beaten the snowiest December record of 179 inches (4.6 meters) established in 1970 at Donner Pass in the Sierra. The record is currently 193.7 inches (4.9 meters).

Due to blizzard conditions, the Northstar California Resort in Truckee suspended its mountain operations on Monday. According to a Facebook post from the ski resort, more than 6 feet (1.8 meters) of snow has fallen in the previous 48 hours.

KCRA reports that search and rescue personnel seek a missing skier who was last seen on a lift at the ski resort on Saturday morning.

After many weeks of dry weather, the Sierra snowpack was dangerously low. Still, the state Department of Water Resources said on Monday that it was between 145 percent and 161 percent of normal across the range, with further snow predicted.

On Monday, frigid air and blinding snow blasted through Nevada’s northern half, disrupting travel and business, closing Sierra Nevada highway passes, delaying airport flights, and shutting down state offices.

Due to poor visibility and heavy snow, Interstate 80 was blocked from the Nevada state line to Placer County, California. A state highway connecting Tahoe City to certain ski resorts in Olympic Valley was closed due to an avalanche, and police advised motorists to avoid unnecessary driving.

Due to the storm, Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak has ordered all state employees save public safety and prison officers to stay at home.

Due to the likelihood of blowing and drifting snow, weather and travel warnings were issued for northeast Nevada and Elko.

Arizona received rain and snow due to the storms that pounded California and Nevada in recent days. When 11 inches (28 cm) of snow fell at the Arizona Snowbowl ski resort just outside Flagstaff on Friday, the airport in Phoenix received a record inch of rain in one day. In the 24 hours leading up to Monday morning, another 6 inches (15 cm) of snow was reported.

More storms are anticipated to slam the desert state beginning Monday afternoon and lasting all week.

Temperatures were unusually warm in sections of the Southern Plains, including Arkansas, where numerous cities set daily high-temperature records on Christmas Day.

However, analysts cautioned that severe storms might hit the Deep South midweek when a storm system passes through, with Alabama and Mississippi being the states most at danger, according to the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma.

According to Emily Heller, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, heavy snow in California’s Sierra Nevada will begin to melt by Monday evening. The area will have a reprieve from the cold by Thursday.

Forecasters predict that western Washington and Oregon temperatures will not reach above freezing until at least Thursday and maybe not until the weekend.

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