DALLAS (AP) — A destructive winter storm swept across the United States on Wednesday, creating blizzard-like conditions across the Great Plains hours after tornadoes touched down in parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana .
Five tornadoes were confirmed in North Texas on Tuesday afternoon based on video and eyewitness reports, but potentially a dozen could have occurred, the National Weather Service of Fort Worth, Texas reported.
Dozens of homes and businesses were damaged by the thunderstorm line and several people were injured in suburbs and counties extending north from the Dallas-Fort Worth area. More than 1,000 flights to and from airports in the region have been delayed and more than 100 have been canceled, according to tracking service FlightAware.
Two people were missing and homes were destroyed Tuesday when a tornado hit Four Forts, La., about 10 miles from Shreveport, Sgt. Casey Jones of the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office.
“Hopefully they’re with family somewhere,” Jones said. No deaths were immediately reported.
The threat of severe weather continued Wednesday for Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle, according to the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma.
Blizzard warnings stretched from Montana to western Nebraska and Colorado, and the National Weather Service said up to 2 feet (61 centimeters) of snow was possible in parts of western Dakota. Southern and Northwestern Nebraska. Winds over 50 mph (80 km/h) will sometimes make it impossible to see outdoors in Nebraska, officials said.
“There’s hardly anyone traveling right now,” said Justin McCallum, manager of the Flying J truck stop in Ogallala, Nebraska.
Forecasters expect the storm system to plague the upper Midwest with ice, rain and snow for days, as well as move into northeast and central Appalachia. Residents from West Virginia to Vermont have been urged to watch out for a possible heavy mix of snow, ice and sleet, and the National Weather Service has issued a winter storm watch from Wednesday evening through Friday afternoon, depending on the time of the storm.
In the Dallas suburb of Grapevine, police spokeswoman Amanda McNew reported five confirmed injuries on Tuesday.
A possible tornado blew off the roof of the city’s service center – a municipal facility – and left pieces of the roof hanging from power lines, said Trent Kelley, assistant manager of Grapevine Parks and Recreation.
It was also garbage day, so the storm picked up and scattered garbage everywhere, he said.
Photos sent by the city showed downed power lines in soggy streets, as well as toppled trees, damaged buildings and a tractor-trailer that appeared to have been dumped in a parking lot.
In Colorado, all roads were closed in the northeast quadrant of the state. Inclement weather in the breeding region could also threaten livestock. Extreme winds can push cattle through fences as they follow the direction of the gale, said Jim Santomaso, a northeast Colorado Cattlemen’s Association representative.
“If this continues,” Santomaso said, “cattle could drift for miles.”
A blizzard warning has been issued for Minnesota’s north coast as some areas expect up to 24 inches of snow and wind gusts of up to 40 mph. And in the south of the state, winds blowing up to 80 km/h had reduced visibility.
National Weather Service meteorologist Melissa Dye in the Twin Cities said it was a “prolonged event” with snow, ice and rain through Friday evening. Minnesota was expecting a lull Wednesday, followed by a second round of snow.
The same weather system has dumped heavy snow across the Sierra Nevada and western United States in recent days.
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Thickets reported in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Associated Press writers Ken Miller in Oklahoma City; Jill Bleed in Little Rock, Arkansas; Sam Metz in Salt Lake City; Trisha Ahmed in Minneapolis; Jesse Bedayn in Denver; Margery Beck in Omaha, Nebraska; and Robert Jablon in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
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