Massive US storm brings tornadoes to South, blizzard threat

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — A massive storm blowing across the country spawned tornadoes in parts of Oklahoma and Texas, including the Dallas-Fort Worth area, as much of the central United States from the Rocky Mountains to the Midwest braced Tuesday for blizzard-like conditions.

An area stretching from Montana into western Nebraska and Colorado was under blizzard warnings, and the National Weather Service said that as much as 2 feet (61 centimeters) of snow was possible in some areas of western South Dakota and northwestern Nebraska. Meanwhile, ice and sleet were expected in the eastern Great Plains.

Meanwhile, damage was reported in the Oklahoma town of Wayne after the weather service warned of a “confirmed tornado” shortly after 5 a.m. Tuesday. Video footage from Oklahoma TV station KOCO showed substantial damage to a home in Wayne, which is about 45 miles (72 kilometers) south of Oklahoma City. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

In Texas, at least two tornadoes were spotted along the front edge of the storm as it headed toward the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area Tuesday morning, though the extent of any damage was not immediately known.

The National Weather Service warned that up to about half an inch (2.5 centimeters) of ice could form and winds could gust up to 45 mph (72 kph) in parts of Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota. Power outages, tree damage, falling branches and hazardous travel conditions all threatened the region.

All of western Nebraska was under a blizzard warning from Tuesday through Thursday, and the National Weather Services said up to 20 inches (51 centimeters) of snow was expected in the northwest. Winds of more than 50 mph (80 kph) at times will make it impossible to see outdoors, officials said.

The Nebraska Department of Transportation closed stretches of Interstate 80 and Interstate 76 in western as heavy snow and high winds made travel dangerous. The Nebraska State Patrol, which was called to deal with several crashes and jackknifed semitrailers overnight, urged people to stay off the roads.

“There’s essentially no one traveling right now,” said Justin McCallum, a manager at the Flying J truck stop at Ogallala, Nebraska. He said he got to work before the roads were closed, but likely won’t be able to get back home Tuesday. “I can see to the first poles outside the doors, but I can’t see the rest of the lot right outside. I’ll probably just get a motel room here tonight.”

The South Dakota Department of Public Safety tweeted Monday: “This is a ‘we are not kidding’ kind of storm." People were urged to stock up on essentials and stay home.

Portions of Interstate 90 and Interstate 29 through South Dakota were expected to be closed by mid-morning Tuesday due to “freezing rain, substantial snow totals, low visibility, drifting snow and high winds,” the state's Department of Transportation said. Secondary highways will likely become “impassable,” it said.

Farther south, tornadoes, strong winds, hail and flash flooding were expected Tuesday with eastern Texas, much of Louisiana and western Mississippi at greatest risk for severe storms. The severe weather threat continues into Wednesday for Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle, according to the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma.

“It will be a busy week while this system moves across the country,” said Marc Chenard, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service's headquarters in Maryland.

The weather is part of the same system that dumped heavy snow in the Sierra Nevada over the weekend before moving east.

In northern Utah, a tour bus crashed Monday morning as snow and frigid temperatures blanketed the region. The bus flipped onto its side in Tremonton after the driver lost control while switching lanes, the state's Highway Patrol said in a statement. The Highway Patrol said 23 passengers were injured, including some seriously.

Thousands of students from Native American communities across Wyoming, Nebraska and the Dakotas were traveling to Rapid City, South Dakota, for this week's Lakota Nation Invitational, a high school athletic event. Brian Brewer, one of the organizers, said he had urged schools and participants to travel early.

“We told them with this storm coming — if you leave tomorrow, there’s a good chance you might not make it,” he said Monday.

In Northern California, most mountain highways had reopened Monday. Remaining warnings in the Southern California mountains expired Monday night, the weather service said.

With winter still more than a week away, it was the latest fall storm to bring significant precipitation to California, which is dealing with the impacts of years of drought that have spurred calls for water conservation.

The UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab northwest of Lake Tahoe reported the storm dropped 54.5 inches (138.5 centimeters) of snow.

The Sierra snowpack, which on average is at its peak April 1, is normally a significant source of water when it melts in the spring. Throughout the drought, experts have cautioned about optimism over early season storms as climate change makes what were once average conditions rare.

Last year, a powerful atmospheric river storm dumped huge amounts of rain on California in October and a wet stretch in December left parts of the Sierra Nevada buried in snow. Then the state experienced its driest January through April on record.

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Associated Press writers Sam Metz in Salt Lake City, Trisha Ahmed in Minneapolis, John Antczak in Los Angeles and Jill Bleed in Little Rock, Arkansas, contributed to this report.