A person walks in the snow on the University of Washington campus in Seattle on Saturday. The winter weather should continue in the region over the weekend. Winter conditions are expected to extend across much of the US by the beginning of the week. Ted S. Warren / AP Hide caption
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Ted S. Warren / AP
A person walks in the snow on the University of Washington campus in Seattle on Saturday. The winter weather should continue in the region over the weekend. Winter conditions are expected to extend across much of the US by the beginning of the week.
Ted S. Warren / AP
A mixture of winter weather conditions brings warnings and notices for around 150 million People stretching from the northwest to the Texas border in the northeastern United States earlier this week.
Historical snowfalls were recorded in Seattle on SaturdayAt nearly 9 inches, the city was the highest total on record since 1969, according to the National Weather Service. The city also closed some coronavirus vaccination sites, but kept the test centers open. The city of Portland reported further south in Oregon 10 inches of snow Saturday with, as reported by the Associated Press, power outages left around 200,000 inhabitants in the region in the dark that night.
Here is a list of 2 consecutive days of 10 inches plus snow events since Seattle weather records began in the 1890s. Friday and Saturday ended with the 15th highest total snowfall on two consecutive days in over 125 years. #wawx pic.twitter.com/DnVINtLa4y
– NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) February 14, 2021
Snow and winter conditions throughout the Pacific Northwest also caused accidents and massive transport disruptions. Oregon’s Department of Transportation noted this Trees and power lines were felled Roads across the state were blocked by the storm and ice. The authorities also briefly concluded a Part of Interstate 84 that runs through the Columbia Gorge, citing blowing snow and frozen roads. The motorway was at least partially reopened on Sunday.
The mix of treacherous weather and travel conditions prompted the authorities to act. Oregon Governor Kate Brown declared Portland a state of emergency and Environment on Saturday. Notes and warnings have been retained for much of the Pacific Northwest until Sunday evening and into early Monday.
The National Weather Service also said Sunday that parts of the northwest could prepare for another Pacific storm system that would bring some of its thickest snowfall into the Cascade Mountain Range. Parts of Idaho, Wyoming and the central Rocky Mountains could see more than a meter of snow, according to forecasters.
Winter conditions also affect large parts of the United States and, in very rare cases, extend across the south, including Texas, where Governor Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration for all United States 254 counties of the state. As of Sunday afternoon, the entire state was under one Winter storm warning, the first time in a decade for some parts of the state. Abbott also said he would request one Federal Declaration of Emergency from the White House to provide additional resources.
“Every part of the state will face freezing conditions in the coming days and I urge all Texans to remain vigilant against the extremely harsh weather,” Abbott said in a statement on Saturday.
In Houston, where the AP records temperatures in the 70s Earlier this week it was reported that officials had closed schools and warned residents to stay out of the streets starting Sunday evening and through Tuesday. The National Weather Service in Houston said parts of southeast Texas could see temperatures in the single digits Tuesday morning, with coolness of will close to or below zero throughout the region.
Hard Sunze & Wind Chill warnings apply to all SE TX from Sunday evening through Tuesday morning. Lows in teenagers to 20s Mon morning & in the single digits until teenagers Tuesday morning. On Tuesday morning, the wind cools everywhere close to and below zero! Prepare now! #txwx #houwx #glswx #bcswx pic.twitter.com/sVXDpSYARu
– NWS Houston (@NWSHouston) February 14, 2021
The National Weather Service said snow, which falls heavily at times, would spread from New Mexico to the Mississippi Valley on Sunday, with some of the heaviest sums in central Oklahoma and the Sacramento Mountains of New Mexico.
In addition, the service said areas from the Texas coast to the Tennessee Valley would see significant ice build-up by Monday if the storm’s worst ice-related impact is predicted. Icy conditions are expected to extend across the northeast as well.
The weather service also predicts snowfalls of up to 30 cm from central Oklahoma to east Texas and the northeast on Tuesday.
