Snow, hail, strong winds and tornadoes: 12 people were injured due to a storm in the USA, bad weather will continue

As severe storms have triggered at least nine tornado reports in parts of the central US, a flurry of snow, rain and strong winds is predicted from the west coast to the Great Lakes on February 27. CNN.

Photo: IStock

As of Feb. 27, more than 227 US homes and businesses were without power, according to PowerOutage.US, about half of them in Michigan, which is bracing for another round of ice and snow. Outages have also been reported in Oklahoma, Missouri, Texas and California, which were hit by a severe winter storm last week.

In Oklahoma, at least seven tornadoes were reported on February 26 and 12 were injured. Two tornadoes were reported in Kansas.

More than 100 other storm reports, including wind and hail, were recorded in parts of Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas as hurricane-force winds and severe thunderstorms swept through. Wind gusts of 183 km per hour were recorded in Memphis, Texas, equivalent to the sustained winds of a Category 3 hurricane.

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“I stood up and then the wind just threw me back. And I screamed,” said Frances Tabler of Norman, Oklahoma. “It was like a snowstorm inside the house.”

Tornado warning alerts just went off on phones in my hotel in OKC and the sirens are ringing outside. @foxweather pic.twitter.com/xE1YbIa7PX

— Brandy Campbell (@1Brandycampbell) February 27, 2023

Early in the morning on February 27 one could see overturned cars, fallen trees, roofs were torn from houses.

In anticipation of strong winds and possible hail from February 26 to 27, the unit at McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, Kansas, redeployed most of its aircraft to protect them and ensure they can still be deployed if needed.

As the storm shifts northward by noon on Feb. 27, a small risk of severe weather — possibly a few tornadoes and gusts of wind — could affect Indianapolis, Cincinnati, and Columbus, Ohio.

Tornado west of Champaign Illinois right now seek shelter north side of Champaign Urbana #ilwx @NWSLincolnIL pic.twitter.com/0qtYxqBiiN

— Andrew Pritchard (@skydrama) February 27, 2023

In the west, where last week's storms triggered blizzard warnings and road flooding in California, a separate system of rain and high mountain snow will move from the Pacific Northwest down into California and into the Rockies.

Nine western states issued a winter weather warning on Feb. 27 as heavy snowfall is forecast across the region, including up to 25cm in the Washington State Cascades by Feb. 28 cm in the Rockies.

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A blizzard warning remains in effect for California's Sierra Nevada Mountains, which could see a meter to two feet of snow.

Yosemite National Park was closed on Feb. 25 due to inclement weather and will not reopen until at least Feb. 29 as a multi-day blizzard warning remains in effect in Yosemite Valley. According to representatives of the park, by February 29, from 140 cm to 215 cm of snow may fall in the valley.

By noon on Feb. 27, the storm system that hit Oklahoma and Ohio is expected to spread to the northeast, where widespread snowfall of 15 cm to 30 cm can be seen in the interior of the region.

Meanwhile, the South is looking forward to another week of unusually warm winter temperatures after last week's record highs.

Dozens of daily high temperature records could be broken again in the coming days as temperatures could rise to 32 degrees in areas of southern Texas and the Florida peninsula.

Southern Plains and tornado reports

As the National Weather Service reviews severe weather reports from Feb. 26 through the morning of Feb. 27, it will work to determine if the system can be classified as a derecho, which forecasters said was previously possible.

According to the weather service, a derecho is a widespread, long-lasting hurricane that typically causes damage in one direction along a relatively straight path. To be classified as a derecho, she said, the wind damage site must extend over 380 km and include wind gusts of at least 93 km per hour over most of its length.

In total, more than 26 storm reports were made on the Southern Plains on February 140, mostly wind in Kansas, Texas, and Oklahoma. This also includes 14 hail reports in these states, with several hailstones reported to be 5 cm in diameter.

Nine tornadoes were reported in Oklahoma and Kansas, including one in the Oklahoma city of Norman, where police warned of road closures and downed power lines. Tornado sirens wailed in the Oklahoma City metro area as several tornadoes were seen there, reports FoxWeather.

The Norman Police Department said there were 27 weather-related injuries on the morning of February 12. None of them were critical, the department said after a meeting with local hospitals. The most serious injury was a broken leg in an accident caused by a storm. Two elementary schools and several roads, including Highway 9, were closed on February 27. Doppler radar indicated debris lifted to a height of up to 2 km in the air.

Students on the University of Oklahoma's Norman campus were told to take shelter immediately on the evening of February 26 as a tornado warning was in effect for the area, which was later lifted.

On February 27, three NWS storm research teams comb the affected areas to confirm damage was the result of a tornado and establish a rating. According to the NWS Norman meteorologist, research teams have already confirmed damage to the Norman tornado at least at the level of EF-2.

Three of our NWS crews are out and about this morning and will be into the afternoon. Here is some roof damage to a home southwest of Mustang from last night. #okwx pic.twitter.com/BEitokgB73

— NWS Norman (@NWSNorman) February 27, 2023

One Norman resident whose area was hit by the tornado said their windows were shattered as they raced to an underground shelter to escape the storm.

“The windows in the house were broken, the garage door came off, we have holes in the roof,” David Stanley said. “Everything in our house is covered in glass.”

The Stanley family moved to the area from California about a year ago and it was their first time they needed to use their storm shelter.

“I can't believe this actually happened. To come out and see the destruction, the intensity, the brutality of it all,” he said. “It happened so quickly that there wasn't much time to do anything.” Within 15 seconds it became crazy."

Officials in Oklahoma are still assessing the damage, although the most concentrated strikes appear to be on Norman, Shawnee and possibly Cheyenne, said Kelly Kane, director of public affairs for the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security.

About a dozen families displaced by the tornado in Liberal, Kansas were housed, mayor Rusty Varnado said, and about 10 trailers were damaged. At least one person was injured by broken glass, he said.

There have been no reports of serious injuries yet, but damage assessments are still ongoing. If a tornado is confirmed in Oklahoma, it will be the first February tornado in more than a decade. The last February tornado in Oklahoma was an EF-0 tornado that hit the state on February 27, 2011.

A long string of thunderstorms produced strong, straight-line gusts of wind that in some cases exceeded that of a hurricane.

Also at Fort Bliss, meteorologists reported that the exit from Interstate 10 was closed due to the tilt of power pylons.

Great Lakes Prepare for Continued Severe Weather

The hard hit Great Lakes are bracing for another round of rain, snow and ice. Such weather in the Great Lakes region and parts of the Midwest last week led to dangerous traffic conditions, road closures and significant power outages, disrupting the daily lives of many people.

The Great Lakes could be hit again this week, including Michigan, where about 130 homes and businesses were still without power in the early hours of Feb. 000 after previous hurricanes damaged trees. Utility company DTE, one of Michigan's largest electricity providers, said 27 of its customers have already been affected by the hurricanes. By the evening of Feb. 630, power had been restored to about 000 of their customers, the utility said.

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The region is expected to experience mixed precipitation on February 27, with those under a winter weather warning likely to see 5 to 20 cm of snow. In total, up to 28 cm of snow could fall in some parts of the interior of New York and New England before noon on February 25.

Boston, which has a winter weather advisory from the evening of Feb. 27 through the evening of Feb. 28, is expected to receive between 5cm and 12cm of snow.

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