Large swathes of the U.S. struggled with severe weather Sunday, as a series of storms brought record rainfall, blizzard conditions, and high winds in states ranging from Hawaii to Minnesota.
The East Coast is set to feel the brunt of the storm Monday as the system continues to move across the nation.
In the Upper Midwest, the Twin Cities metro area got between seven to ten inches of snow, and St. Paul public schools announced they would not hold classes Monday, while an estimated 725 flights in and out of Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport were canceled.
More heavy snows are expected on Monday, and states such as South Dakota and Michigan are under National Weather Service storm warnings.
“Dangerous travel conditions are expected during this period, particularly north of Interstate 90 where snowfall totals of 12 to 24 inches will see significant drifting with the increasing winds,” the National Weather Service office in La Crosse, Wisconsin, said.
In Hawaii, an ongoing rainstorm has shattered decades-old records, flooding roads on Oahu and at one point knocking out power to more than 130,000 homes and businesses across the state. Up to six inches of additional rainfall is forecast through Monday.
More than 15 million people were under various blizzard and winter storm warnings Sunday.
A different storm system could bring hail, tornadoes and high winds to the Washington, D.C., area Monday, according to forecasters, with peak gusts of up to 80mph.
AccuWeather senior meteorologist Tyler Roys warned of "successive punches of snow, wind and severe weather" that are "going to impact the eastern half of the United States."
He added that beyond the immediate threat to lives and property, "whether it’s wind gusts from a squall line, blizzard or snow, or just wind because of the storm, you’re looking at several major airports being impacted."
Warnings of hazardous road conditions were issued across Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin, where transportation officials warned of worsening conditions Sunday with low visibility and snow-covered roadways.
“Roads are becoming impassable in many of Wisconsin’s northern counties,” the Wisconsin Department of Transportation said on social media. “Please stay off the roads to keep yourself and others safe.”
The weather conditions created headaches for air travel too with hundreds of cancellations.
Areas of central Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula are likely to see over 2 feet of snow, with higher isolated totals, Roys said. Lower snow accumulations in places like Chicago and Milwaukee late Sunday and Monday will still likely create troubles for commuters, he added.
About 30 Nebraska National Guard have been deployed to help combat multiple wildfires across a broad swath of range and grassland, the state's Emergency Management Agency said.
Three of the largest wildfires have damaged well over 900 square miles, the agency said, including one identified by officials as the Morrill County fire that's burned well over 700 square miles.
One fire-related fatality was reported on Friday, and in a news release Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen urged residents to follow locally-issued evacuation orders, adding that winds were "supposed to be extraordinary” on Sunday.
The weather service issued a high-wind warning Sunday for most of Nebraska, with wind gusts of up to 60 mph possible amid falling snow. Roys said high winds will affect a region from the U.S.-Mexico border to the Great Lakes, and from Denver eastward to the Appalachian Mountains.
The National Weather Service warned that a line of severe storms with damaging winds would cross much of the Eastern U.S. by late Monday. It was to begin Sunday afternoon in the Mississippi, Tennessee and Ohio valleys.
The storm threat was expected to enter the Appalachians late Sunday and early Monday, then move toward the East Coast, where “severe thunderstorms with widespread damaging winds and several tornadoes” were expected during the day Monday, a weather service report said.
A stretch from parts of South Carolina to Maryland appeared most likely to experience particularly damaging winds Monday afternoon, the weather service said. That could include Raleigh, North Carolina; Richmond, Virginia and the nation's capital. The weather service said an increased — albeit much lower — risk stretched north to a portion of New York and south to northern Florida.
Rain also continued falling Sunday in Hawaii, where acres of farmland and homes have been flooded, roads have been closed and shelters open.
Flash flooding has been a problem in recent days on Maui, Molokai and the Big Island, where rain had been falling from 1 to 2 inches an hour overnight, according to the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency.
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