OMAHA, Neb. — This weekend, a major ice storm swept across Iowa and eastern Nebraska, creating hazardous driving conditions and temporarily shutting down sections of Interstate 80 as numerous vehicles slid off the road.
The storm began Friday evening, leading to widespread event cancellations and delayed business openings on Saturday. Officials urged residents to stay indoors where possible. By the afternoon, rising temperatures melted most of the ice in affected areas.
“Luckily some warmer air is moving in behind this to make it temporary,” said Dave Cousins, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Davenport, Iowa.
In eastern Nebraska, the icy roads tragically caused at least one fatal accident. The Washington County Sheriff’s office reported that a 57-year-old woman lost control of her pickup on Highway 30 near Arlington and collided with an oncoming truck. The woman did not survive, while the other driver suffered minor injuries.
Elsewhere, a fast-moving storm accompanied by wind gusts up to 60 mph (96 kph) triggered San Francisco’s first tornado warning, including parts of nearby San Mateo County. Issued at 5:51 a.m. Saturday and affecting around 1 million residents, the warning was lifted by 6:15 a.m.
The storm caused trees to fall on cars and streets, damaged rooftops, and marked the first tornado-related warning in the city since 2005, according to the Weather Service. Officials were assessing damage to confirm if a tornado actually occurred.
“This was the first-ever warning for a possible tornado in San Francisco. I would guess there wasn’t a clear signature on radar for a warning in 2005,” said Roger Gass, a meteorologist with the Weather Service in Monterey, California. Gass noted he was not present during the 2005 event.
With few basements in the area, residents were urged to seek shelter. “The biggest thing that we tell people in the city is to put as many walls between you and the outside as possible,” explained Meteorologist Dalton Behringer.
Meanwhile, upstate New York faced heavy snowfall, with over 33 inches (84 centimeters) reported in Orchard Park. Residents, accustomed to lake-effect snow, worked to clear significant accumulations.
In Nevada, Sierra Nevada peaks were forecast to receive up to 3 feet (91 centimeters) of snow, and a winter storm warning remained active until 10 p.m. More than a foot of snow had already fallen at Lake Tahoe ski resorts, the National Weather Service office in Reno reported.
A stretch of Interstate 80, roughly 80 miles (130 kilometers) long, was closed from Applegate, California, to the Nevada state line near Reno. Rain persisted in the Reno area as a winter weather advisory continued into the afternoon.
In western Washington, strong winds and rain left tens of thousands of residents without power on Saturday, according to local reports.
Associated Press contributors included Julie Walker in New York, Becky Bohrer in Juneau, Alaska, and Scott Sonner in Reno, Nevada.