A powerful winter storm that dumped five feet of snow on California’s Sierra Nevada mountains is threatening to unleash blizzards, tornados and floods as it moves over the central United States, forecasters say.
More than 10 million Americans across a dozen states were under a weather warning on Monday as Winter Storm Diaz headed inland from the West Coast.
The storm brought wind gusts of up to 160mph (257km), avalanche warnings and shut down a 70-mile section of Interstate 80 from northern California to Nevada over the weekend due to “zero visibility”, the Associated Press reported.
The National Weather Service has put in place blizzard warnings for parts of Wyoming, Nebraska, Montana, South Dakota and Colorado as the storm pushes towards the Rockie Mountains by Monday night.
Winter storm warnings stretch across a much larger swathe of the country from Arizona to the Great Lakes.
“This winter storm is a true coast-to-coast, top-to-bottom impact that will be felt by every person in the country at some point this week,” CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller said.
The wild storm brought heavy snowfall, flood warnings and white-out conditions at several ski resorts in California.
The Palisades Tahoe said on Twitter it had recorded 36 inches (91cms) over a 24-hour period over the weekend, along with gusts of up to 160mph.
The nearby Heavenly ski resort was forced to close on Saturday as wind gusts of up to 100mph (160kms) caused lift chairs to sway violently.
The US Forestry Service warned that the strong winds and intense snowfall in the mountains west of Lake Tahoe would “result in dangerous avalanche conditions,” according to the Associated Press.
The National Weather Service said in a statement the storm will intensify as it reaches the Rockies overnight on Monday.
The Upper Midwest and northern and central Plains areas will bear the brunt of the heavy snow, blizzard and freezing rains on Tuesday.
“Due to heavy snow and strong winds, travel will be nearly impossible on Tuesday and Wednesday, and possibly into Thursday,” the weather service’s Rapid City, South Dakota, bureau tweeted.
The south Plains and Mississippi Valley will be under threat of flash flooding and severe weather from midweek.
The Storm Prediction Center warned of damaging winds, large hail “and a couple of tornadoes” from western Kansas to Oklahoma and northwest Texas.
