Two-faced storm brings tree-snapping ice, damaging thunderstorms to central US
By
Brian Lada, AccuWeather meteorologist and senior content editor
Updated Nov 11, 2020 10:56 PM EDT
People across Nebraska - from Scribner to Columbus to Lincoln to Wayne to Rising City - experienced both the beauty and terror of ice on Nov. 10, with trees downed on cars, autumn leaves coated in ice and all sorts of surfaces frozen solid.
Two seasons seemed to be separated by just a few hundred miles on Tuesday as a multifaceted storm tracked across the central United States. For some residents, the early-week storm arrived in the form of disruptive snow and ice, while other residents hunkered down for severe thunderstorms and an elevated risk of tornadoes.
The wintry aspect of the storm started late Monday across Nebraska and spread northeastward into South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota through Tuesday evening.
Snow accumulations were generally under 6 inches across the region, but it was still enough to cover roads and slow travel. The heaviest snow fell in a small zone of northeastern Nebraska and southeastern South Dakota where 8 to 12 inches of snow accumulated.
Early Tuesday afternoon, the Nebraska Department of Transportation reported that many major roads in the northeastern part of the state were partially or completely covered by snow. However, roads in the Omaha area were just wet.
A storm tracking across the central U.S. on Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2020, was bringing the risk of severe weather as well as disruptive snow and ice. (NOAA/GOES-East)
The areas hardest hit by freezing rain were east-central Nebraska into west-central Iowa, with several locations measuring more than half an inch of ice accumulation on elevated surfaces, such as vehicles, fences and tree branches.
The extra weight on the trees caused some limbs to snap, sparking thousands of power outages across the region, although the outages were not as extensive as they were in the ice storm that froze Oklahoma in late October.
“We have had a bunch of trees fall into lines. There are several down in a short period of time,” the city of Fonda, Iowa, posted on Twitter around 12:30 p.m. CST. “Power is out in several areas of town [but] roads are still only wet.”
By Tuesday afternoon, the focus shifted from snow and ice to severe weather as strong storms ignited along a cold front that was sweeping across Missouri, eastern Iowa and Illinois.
A tornado watch was issued in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin ahead of the storms due to the threat of twisters touching down. The watch areas included major cities like Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Chicago. The watch has since been discontinued.
While tornadoes can happen at any point in the year, it is extremely rare for them to occur in this part of the county in November. “There has only been one tornado anywhere near Chicago in November, [and that was] on Nov. 13, 1951,” AccuWeather Meteorologist Jesse Ferrell said.
At 5 p.m. CDT Tuesday, there were two severe thunderstorm warnings in effect for Chicago and the surrounding areas, which included nearly 8 million people and 100 hospitals, according to the National Weather Service.
Wind gusts over 50 mph were common as the line of storms raced eastward throughout the afternoon and evening. A wind gust of 79 mph was clocked at Milwaukee's Mitchell Airport, one of the highest wind gusts of the day.
These damaging winds lead to more power outages than areas farther west that were glazed over by ice. By 7:45 p.m. CDT, there were nearly 50,000 outages in Illinois and over 35,000 outages in Wisconsin, according to PowerOutage.us.
In addition to being in the dark, communities that were rattled by Tuesday’s storms experienced a dramatic drop in temperature after the storm system moved through. In towns such as Columbia, Missouri, the mercury hovered in the mid-70s before the storms arrived but dropped into the 50s after the rain and thunder had stopped.
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Tranquil weather is forecast to replace the snow, ice and storms on Wednesday and Thursday, giving residents the opportunity to clean up any damage and debris in the wake of the severe weather.
The fairer weather will also make it easier for crews to repair the power grid and replace equipment to restore electricity for residents that found themselves in the dark on Tuesday.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo
News / Winter Weather
Two-faced storm brings tree-snapping ice, damaging thunderstorms to central US
By Brian Lada, AccuWeather meteorologist and senior content editor
Updated Nov 11, 2020 10:56 PM EDT
People across Nebraska - from Scribner to Columbus to Lincoln to Wayne to Rising City - experienced both the beauty and terror of ice on Nov. 10, with trees downed on cars, autumn leaves coated in ice and all sorts of surfaces frozen solid.
Two seasons seemed to be separated by just a few hundred miles on Tuesday as a multifaceted storm tracked across the central United States. For some residents, the early-week storm arrived in the form of disruptive snow and ice, while other residents hunkered down for severe thunderstorms and an elevated risk of tornadoes.
The wintry aspect of the storm started late Monday across Nebraska and spread northeastward into South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota through Tuesday evening.
Snow accumulations were generally under 6 inches across the region, but it was still enough to cover roads and slow travel. The heaviest snow fell in a small zone of northeastern Nebraska and southeastern South Dakota where 8 to 12 inches of snow accumulated.
Early Tuesday afternoon, the Nebraska Department of Transportation reported that many major roads in the northeastern part of the state were partially or completely covered by snow. However, roads in the Omaha area were just wet.
A storm tracking across the central U.S. on Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2020, was bringing the risk of severe weather as well as disruptive snow and ice. (NOAA/GOES-East)
The areas hardest hit by freezing rain were east-central Nebraska into west-central Iowa, with several locations measuring more than half an inch of ice accumulation on elevated surfaces, such as vehicles, fences and tree branches.
The extra weight on the trees caused some limbs to snap, sparking thousands of power outages across the region, although the outages were not as extensive as they were in the ice storm that froze Oklahoma in late October.
“We have had a bunch of trees fall into lines. There are several down in a short period of time,” the city of Fonda, Iowa, posted on Twitter around 12:30 p.m. CST. “Power is out in several areas of town [but] roads are still only wet.”
By Tuesday afternoon, the focus shifted from snow and ice to severe weather as strong storms ignited along a cold front that was sweeping across Missouri, eastern Iowa and Illinois.
A tornado watch was issued in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin ahead of the storms due to the threat of twisters touching down. The watch areas included major cities like Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Chicago. The watch has since been discontinued.
While tornadoes can happen at any point in the year, it is extremely rare for them to occur in this part of the county in November. “There has only been one tornado anywhere near Chicago in November, [and that was] on Nov. 13, 1951,” AccuWeather Meteorologist Jesse Ferrell said.
At 5 p.m. CDT Tuesday, there were two severe thunderstorm warnings in effect for Chicago and the surrounding areas, which included nearly 8 million people and 100 hospitals, according to the National Weather Service.
Wind gusts over 50 mph were common as the line of storms raced eastward throughout the afternoon and evening. A wind gust of 79 mph was clocked at Milwaukee's Mitchell Airport, one of the highest wind gusts of the day.
These damaging winds lead to more power outages than areas farther west that were glazed over by ice. By 7:45 p.m. CDT, there were nearly 50,000 outages in Illinois and over 35,000 outages in Wisconsin, according to PowerOutage.us.
In addition to being in the dark, communities that were rattled by Tuesday’s storms experienced a dramatic drop in temperature after the storm system moved through. In towns such as Columbia, Missouri, the mercury hovered in the mid-70s before the storms arrived but dropped into the 50s after the rain and thunder had stopped.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
Tranquil weather is forecast to replace the snow, ice and storms on Wednesday and Thursday, giving residents the opportunity to clean up any damage and debris in the wake of the severe weather.
The fairer weather will also make it easier for crews to repair the power grid and replace equipment to restore electricity for residents that found themselves in the dark on Tuesday.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo