Blizzards, Tornadoes, And Hail, Oh My: Unseasonable Warmth Gives Way To Severe Storm Warnings, USA
The severe weather system that is currently dousing the Central states with severe thunderstorms and coated the upper Midwest in an icy mix is expected to trudge through Pennsylvania and New York before drenching the Atlantic Seaboard on Friday, according to AccuWeather reports.
The “two-faced” storm brought blizzard conditions to Minnesota and Wisconsin Thursday morning that are expected to continue into Thursday night, while simultaneously pelting Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, and southern Wisconsin with severe rain and thunderstorms, AccuWeather meteorologist Courtney Spamer reports.
Dime-quarter-sized hail pelted portions of the Kansas City Northland, according to local reports.
While southern Kansas, Oklahoma, and northern Texas have so far remained relatively dry, they have experienced gusting winds of 60 mph, Ms. Spamer said. Those winds could whip through the Great Lakes region and the central Appalachians later Thursday.
“[F]arther south, a new line of thunderstorms will ignite Thursday afternoon and will reach from the Ohio Valley to the Gulf Coast into Thursday night,” Spamer said. “It is this zone that is likely to produce severe thunderstorms that are capable of producing damaging wind gusts, flash flooding and even a small number of tornadoes.”
Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, and Illinois could see the season’s first tornadoes Thursday afternoon.
On Thursday night, the Great Lakes could accumulate 12-18 inches of snow, reports AccuWeather meteorologist Michael Doll.
“It will be a whiteout at times with visibility down to near zero, which will create extremely dangerous travel conditions,” Mr. Doll said.
At the same time, much of the East Coast, Mid-Atlantic, and Deep South have been experiencing spring-like temperatures, with highs reaching into the 50s and 60s in the Mid-Atlantic and Ohio Valley and well into the 70s in the Deep South, the National Weather Service reports.
East Coast residents from New York City to Jacksonville, Fla. can expect severe thunderstorms and 60 mph winds on Friday morning and midday, AccuWeather’s Alex Sosnowski reports. New Englanders will likely see a wintery mix of snow and rain.
Heavy rains could lead to flash flooding in areas where mountains of snow clog storm drains, Mr. Sosnowski said.
This storm is the latest in a string of extreme weather events to strike the United States this winter that have brought treacherous ice storms to the Deep South, buried the Northeast in nearly 60 inches of snow, and plunged the Midwest into temperatures in the negative double digits.
An experimental plane was forced to make an emergency landing Wednesday in a snowy field roughly 50 miles south of Chicago after the plane’s engine failed.
According to the Kankakee County Sheriff’s office, the plane landed in the southeast corner of a field at 4150 West Avenue in Bourbonnais late Wednesday afternoon.
Officials said the plane was smoking and oil was leaking following the emergency landing, but no fire was reported.
One person inside the plane refused treatment, according to authorities.
The Federal Aviation Administration has been advised, officials said.
Tornado Spotted In Morgan County, USA
For a few moments a tornado touched down in northwest Morgan County, early reports indicating there’s been no damage.
At about 2:55 p.m. Thursday a a tornado was spotted near Concord, and but appeared briefly. Emergency responders are still tracking the cell that produced it as it moved northeast into Cass County. Other cells that could produce tornadoes are still under watch by spotters.
After the tornado was confirmed sirens in Jacksonville were sounded. Some schools kept students for a little longer until conditions were clear.
MAGNITUDE 2.5 – LONG VALLEY AREA, CALIFORNIA
http://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=360943
Subject To Change
Depth: 6 km
Distances: 404 km N of Los Angeles, United States / pop: 3,792,621 / local time: 11:18:04.8 2014-02-20
185 km SE of Carson City, United States / pop: 55,274 / local time: 11:18:04.8 2014-02-20
98 km S of Hawthorne, United States / pop: 3,269 / local time: 11:18:04.8 2014-02-20
10 km E of Mammoth Lakes, United States / pop: 8,234 / local time: 11:18:04.8 2014-02-20
MAGNITUDE 5.0 – SOUTH ATLANTIC OCEAN
http://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=360922
Subject To Change
Depth: 2 km
Distances: 1512 km E of Montevideo, Uruguay / pop: 1,270,737 / local time: 14:28:48.0 2014-02-20
1715 km E of Buenos Aires, Argentina / pop: 13,076,300 / local time: 14:28:48.0 2014-02-20
2114 km SE of Asunción, Paraguay / pop: 1,482,200 / local time: 13:28:48.0 2014-02-20
MAGNITUDE 4.3 – BRISTOL CHANNEL REGION, U.K.
Updated By The British Geological Survey Society
http://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=360897
Subject To Change
Depth: 5 km
Distances: 233 km NW of Saint Peter Port, Guernsey / pop: 16,488 / local time: 13:21:28.0 2014-02-20
65 km W of Cardiff, United Kingdom / pop: 302,139 / local time: 13:21:28.0 2014-02-20
36 km S of Swansea, United Kingdom / pop: 170,883 / local time: 13:21:28.0 2014-02-20
11 km N of Ilfracombe, United Kingdom / pop: 10,486 / local time: 13:21:28.0 2014-02-20
Please Donate To Support My Work
Earth Extremities 
Comments