Severe Weather Batters Midwest and East as Storms Threaten

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A broad and erratic patchwork of severe weather has rumbled across much of the U.S. on Sunday, dumping heavy snow and making roads impassable in the Upper Midwest while damaging high winds swept across the Plains. Parts of the mid-South are bracing for late-day thunderstorms that will spread eastward, threatening a large swath of the Eastern U.S. with high winds and tornadoes on Monday.

Why it matters

The severe weather conditions have created major disruptions to travel, power, and infrastructure across a wide region, impacting millions of people. The threat of tornadoes and damaging winds in the Eastern U.S. on Monday also raises concerns about potential loss of life and property damage.

The details

Over a foot of snow has fallen in parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin, with blizzard conditions making many roads impassable. Hundreds of flights have been canceled at the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport. High winds have also left around 150,000 utility customers without power in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. In Nebraska, the National Guard has been deployed to combat multiple wildfires that have burned over 900 square miles of land.

• As of Sunday morning, over a foot of snow had fallen in parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin.
• The severe weather threat is expected to enter the Appalachians late Sunday and early Monday, then move toward the East Coast.
• Damaging winds and several tornadoes are expected across a large swath of the Eastern U.S. on Monday afternoon.

What they’re saying

What’s next

The National Weather Service has warned that a line of severe storms with damaging winds will cross much of the Eastern U.S. by late Monday, with the mid-Atlantic states most at risk for high winds and tornadoes.