Motorists make their way along Interstate 380 in North Liberty, Iowa, on Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. – Inclement weather plagued areas of the United States, with dangerous conditions including heavy snow in upstate New York, a major ice storm in Midwest states, and severe weather warnings around Lake Tahoe. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette via Associated Press)
OMAHA, Nebraska — A tornado near a mall in central California swept up cars, uprooted trees, and sent several people to the hospital. In San Francisco, authorities issued the first-ever tornado warning.
Elsewhere, inclement weather plagued areas of the United States, with dangerous conditions including heavy snow in upstate New York, a major ice storm in Midwest states, and severe weather warnings around Lake Tahoe.
Article continues after this advertisementThe ice storm that started Friday evening created treacherous driving conditions across Iowa and eastern Nebraska into Saturday. It also prompted temporary closures of Interstate 80 after numerous cars and trucks slid off the road. In upstate New York, more than 33 inches (84 centimeters) of ice was reported near Orchard Park, often a landing point for lake-effect snow.
FEATURED STORIES GLOBALNATION Island Cove’s jobless: The other side of the Pogo ban GLOBALNATION Visit of Mary Jane Veloso’s family to Indonesia canceled GLOBALNATION Filipinos tighten belts for Christmas as costs riseOn Saturday, a tornado touched down near a shopping mall in Scotts Valley, California, about 70 miles (110 kilometers) south of San Francisco, around 1:40 p.m. The tornado overturned cars and toppled trees and utility poles, the National Weather Service said. The Scotts Valley Police Department said several people were injured and taken to hospitals.
In San Francisco, some trees toppled onto cars and streets and damaged roofs. The damage was due to 80-mph (129-kph) straight-line winds, not a tornado, weather service meteorologist Dalton Behringer said Sunday.
Article continues after this advertisementREAD: Storm blankets parts of the US with more snow and cold forecast
Article continues after this advertisementRoger Gass, a meteorologist in the weather service’s office in Monterey, California, said the warning of a possible tornado in San Francisco was a first for the city, noting an advanced alert did not go out before the last tornado struck nearly 20 years ago.
Article continues after this advertisement“I would guess there wasn’t a clear signature on radar for a warning in 2005,” said Gass, who was not there at the time.
The fast-moving storm prompted warnings for residents to take shelter, but few people have basements in the area.
Unemployment among young people and college graduates jumped from 13.2% in June to 17.1% in July, as some 12 million students entered the labour market, before the August figure rose to its highest level since the National Bureau of Statistics decided to change the methodology to not include students in December 2023.
tinyurl com slot Article continues after this advertisementMore than a foot (30 centimeters) of snow fell at some Lake Tahoe ski resorts, and a 112-mph (181-kph) gust of wind was recorded at the Mammoth Mountain resort south of Yosemite National Park, according to the weather service’s office in Reno, Nevada. Up to three feet (91 centimeters) of snow was forecast for Sierra Nevada mountaintops.
The weekend Tahoe Live music festival at Palisades Tahoe ski resort in California went ahead as planned in spite of a snowstorm on Saturday. Lil Wayne and Diplo were scheduled to perform Sunday, the festival’s website said. An avalanche warning was in effect at least until Monday morning in the area.
READ: Great Lakes region braces for more snow while cleaning up
Interstate 80 was closed along an 80-mile (130-kilometer) stretch from Applegate, California, to the Nevada line just west of Reno on Saturday. The California Highway Patrol reopened the road in the afternoon for passenger vehicles with chains or four-wheel drive and snow tires.
The severe weather in the Midwest resulted in at least one death. The Washington County Sheriff’s office in Nebraska said a 57-year-old woman died after she lost control of her pickup on Highway 30 near Arlington and hit an oncoming truck. The other driver sustained minor injuries.
Businesses announced plans to open late Saturday as temperatures rose high enough in the afternoon to melt the ice in most places.
“Luckily some warmer air is moving in behind this to make it temporary,” said Dave Cousins, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s office in Davenport, Iowa.
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Tens of thousands of people in western Washington state lost electricity Saturday as the system delivered rain and gusty windslucky pot, local news outlets reported.
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