Storm system sweeps across US Southeast, triggering tornado watches
ATLANTA — A weekend storm system sweeping across the Southeast brought tornado warnings to Mississippi and Louisiana, and then aimed at parts of Georgia and Florida, as people in the Northeast were finally getting a reprieve from weeks of bitterly cold temperatures.
Some of the fiercest weather in the South was reported near Lake Charles, Louisiana, where high winds from a thunderstorm overturned a horse trailer and a Mardi Gras float, damaged an airport jet bridge, and flung the metal awning from a house into power lines. The damage was documented by National Weather Service employees who surveyed the area.
Power poles were snapped and toppled near the Louisiana towns of Jena, Cheneyville, and Donaldsonville, the weather service reported.
READ: ‘Major travel impact’: Winter storm watch issued for northern California
No deaths or serious injuries were reported, but the damage reports came as the storm system continued into parts of south Georgia and the Florida Panhandle, which were under tornado watches on Sunday.
The storms led to some power outages across southern states, but nowhere near the massive number of outages caused by ice storms late last month in northern Mississippi and Nashville, Tennessee. By Sunday evening, a few thousand customers were still without electricity in Florida, Louisiana, Kentucky, and Virginia, according to PowerOutage.us, which tracks outages nationwide.
Meanwhile, the Northeast was beginning to thaw after a weeks-long stretch of uncommonly cold weather.
Boston was running nearly 7ºF (minus 14ºC) below average for February last week, and the city was on pace for its coldest winter in more than a decade. Boston remained cold on Sunday, but this week’s forecast called for temperatures climbing into the high 30s and low 40s, which is closer to the seasonal average.
On the West Coast, much of California braced for a powerful winter storm that was expected to bring drenching thunderstorms, damaging winds, and heavy snow in mountain areas. Jacob Spender, a weather service meteorologist in Sacramento, urged people to take precautions in the coming days.
“So if they are traveling, packing winter safety kits. Anything to be prepared. This is a bigger system, and a major system,” Spender said.
Rain that began Sunday in the San Francisco Bay Area was forecast to intensify throughout the day and overnight, bringing the risk of flooding. Forecasters said the Sierra Nevada, including ski resorts around Lake Tahoe, could see up to seven feet (two meters) of snow before the storm moves through late Wednesday.
To the south, Los Angeles area residents in some neighborhoods scarred by last year’s devastating wildfires were under an evacuation warning through Tuesday because of the potential for mud and debris flows. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said she’s ordered emergency crews and city departments to prepare to respond to any problems. /atm
