Winter Storm Making Travel Weekend Miserable In U.S., Especially Midwest

A must-vehicle crash amid on Interstate 70 in western
Indiana on Saturday. A huge swath of the Midwest
is under winter storm warnings today as heavy
snow delays travel for many. 

While we here in Vermont await a minor bout of winter weather tomorrow, the same storm is spreading snow over a huge area of the Midwest. 

Since so many people are traveling this holiday weekend, the Scrooge mood has hit early for many. 

The winter storm warnings Saturday stretched from eastern South Dakota to Michigan. 

The relative center of this winter weather zone is Chicago, The windy city serves as a hub for American, United, Frontier, Southwest and Spirit airlines. 

You can imagine the mess.

As of Saturday morning, more than 1,000 flights were canceled at Chicago airports, CBS News reported. I imagine things later got even worse for flights in and out of Chicago   as heavy snow with very poor visibility lasted all afternoon. 

As of 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time, FlightAware said the number of flights today canceled at just O'Hare was 1,038.

For the U.S. as a whole, FlightAware said there had been 2,166 flight cancelations and 18,322 delays as of late this afternoon. So if someone you expected to arrive at your house today says it won't happen, they're probably not lying. It's nothing personal. Just the weather.  

Of course, highways are slow, too. As many as 30 vehicles crashed into each other on slick Interstate 70 in western Indiana. Social media is rife with images of cars in ditches and vehicles with smashed and dented fenders, or worse.   

The winter storm warning affected 32 million people and winter weather advisories along the storms edges covered another 20 million, USA Today reported. 

The snow is expected to dwindle off and end by late tonight in places from Chicago west, and during the morning in locations farther east, like northern Indiana and most of Michigan. 

A new winter storm is expected to hit a large swath of the Midwest and Northeast on Tuesday.  

As Cold Air Invades U.S., Odd Big Snowstorms Loom Around Chicago, And Southern Appalachians

Web cam grab from Chicago this morning showing
light snow falling. Blinding snow squalls are expected
tonight and tomorrow, which will cause serious 
travel trouble, and tree and power line damage. 
Another snowstorm will also hit high
elevations of the southern and central
Appalachians. 

 It's a little early in the season for massive snowstorms in most of the United States, but a couple of them are in the forecast.  

Areas in and around Chicago, and the southern and central Appalachians are about to get blasted by some big, brutal snows.  

The overall blame goes to an unusually strong cold snap smashing into the eastern half of the United States. There are no big storm systems accompanying this frigid blast. But some local effects are creating two big autumn snowstorms.  

CHICAGO/ENVIRONS

A pretty dire winter storm warning has been issued for the Chicago area, and northern Indiana tonight and early Monday. 

The cold air is sweeping into the Midwest on north winds. Those north winds are running down the length of still relatively warm Lake Michigan.  That's a long fetch down the length of the lake.  A great opportunity for the cold air to collect moisture from the still-relatively warm lake. 

It's a perfect setup for lake effect snows.

An initial lake effect snow band hit Chicago this morning, but it was just a tease before the main event. This morning's snow was enough to create delays at Chicago's O'Hare airport. 

The real show gets underway overnight and on Monday. . 

 The winter storm warning calls for "dangerous to impossible travel conditions" due to intense lake effect snow. In some spots, snow could fall at a rate of three inches per hour with local accumulations of 12 to 18 inches. Winds could gust over 30 mph, so they can expect blowing and drifting snow.  The intense snows might also be punctuated by thunder and lighting. 

Until now, it's been a rather warm autumn in Chicago. Some of the trees still have leaves on them. The snow will accumulate on those leaves and pull branches down. Expected strong, gusty winds won't help.  All that would cause a lot of power outages. Chicago might end up with a bunch of damaged homes and other buildings as snow laden trees and large branches crash onto and through roofs. 

Lake effect snow bands are usually narrow, so some areas in and near Chicago will get blitzed, and others won't be hit quite as bad. The worst of it will hit before and during the morning commute, so things could get really interesting on the roads and streets Monday morning.  

The exact placement of lake affects snows are hard to predict.  For now, it looks like the one expected to hit Chicago might wane during the day Monday. But then, another, perhaps stronger snow band off Lake Michigan could plow into northern Indiana, in places like Gary and South Bend tomorrow afternoon and evening. 

I'm guessing places from Chicago to South Bend could have their deepest snow for so early in the season by tomorrow.  

APPALACHIANS

Pretty much the entire Appalachian chain from Georgia to Maine will see some snow out of this cold outbreak. Parts of the southern and central Appalachians might really get nailed. 

The heaviest snow will be limited to the highest elevations. In western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee above Gatlinburg, three to seven inches of snow is forecast above 3,500 feet and 10 inches or more could come down at summit level.  

That kind of snowstorm happens from time to time in these mountains  but the first half of November is awfully early for such a snowstorm.  

Snow showers will extend all the way down to valley floors around Asheville, North Carolina.

Further north, another winter storm warning is in effect for the mountains of eastern West Virginia. Those areas could see seven or more inches of snow. Wind gusts of 40 mph or more combined with the snow might bring down trees and power lines. 

Several inches of snow is also likely in the northern Appalachians, especially through New England. That far north, such high elevation snowfalls are pretty common this time of year. 

In Illinois, Indiana and the Appalachians, temperatures are forecast to go back to near seasonable levels by the middle of this week. That should melt the early season snow. Then they can safely wait until winter really hits.  

Ruidoso, New Mexico Latest Place To Get Slammed By Flash Flood (Again!)

Screen grab from a video showing a 
house being swept downstream during
flash flooding in Ruidoso, New Mexico
Tuesday. The community has been hit
by repeated flash floods and debris
flows and Tuesday's was the worst yet.

The mountain town of Ruidoso, New Mexico once again been ravaged by floods and debris flows Tuesday, killing three people and destroying houses.

The deaths included a brother and sister, ages 4 and 7, continuing another horrible trend we've seen this summer of children frequently falling victims to floods and other disasters,   

Between 50 and 60 people had to be rescued from the swift flowing water. 

The main river in the area, the Rio Ruidoso, experienced a record high crest of 20.24 feet during the abrupt Tuesday flood. That's five feet higher than the previous record. 

Several homes were flattened or carried downstream. One widely circulated video shows a home racing along in the rapids and smashing into trees. 

Up to 2.5 inches of rain fell on wildfire-revaged hillsides above town, sending the water crashing through the community of about 8,000 people. 

 Moisture from the remnants of last week's Tropical Storm Barry continue to linger over the Southwest, which contributed to the flood in Ruidoso.

 Those Barry remnants were also a key ingredient to the catastrophic, deadly floods in the Texas Hill Country over the weekend. 

Tuesday's flood was the worst in a series of such floods since a June, 2024 wildfire in and near the town left the community vulnerable to these floods.

Per the Washington Post; 

"Last year's fires burned almost a thousand homes and killed two people. They also left Ruidoso and its population of almost 8,000 people particularly vulnerable to flash flooding, with the destruction of trees and a change in soil composition leaving the hillsides less able to absorb rain. Over the weeks that followed the fires, the scenic town was hit with multiple floods."

It's been an extremely month so far for flooding in the United States. The National Weather Service has received more than 300 reports of flooding since Friday. 

Elsewhere, parts of Chicago were swamped by more than five inches of rain in just an hour and a half. Areas just to the west of the Loop got the most, with numerous reports of people being rescued from flooded cars and buildings.

The flood was very localized, with Midway and O'Hare Airports a little to the northeast of the storm reporting less than a tenth of an inch of rain 

 Late this afternoon, a broad swath of the Mid-Atlantic States were under the gun for what could well be a widespread and serious flash flood event. As of 5 p.m. a large area of torrential thunderstorms was moving through West Virginia, Virginia and Maryland, and new flash flood warning were being hastily issued.

I think it was about this time last year I called it the summer of flash floods. This year is even worse in the United States, apparently.  

Super Stormy From Midwest To East Ahead Of A Break In Oppressive Heat

Lightning crackles across the sky last night
over St. Albans, Vermont. 

 Changes in weather patterns often go out with a bang.

So it is currently as severe storms and tornadoes have been hitting huge areas from the Plains, through the Great Lakes and into the Northeast. 

The extensive severe weather - a bit rare for July - is a function of a weather pattern change that will bring an end to a long siege of hot, humid air in the Midwest and Northeast. This break in the heat could last at least a week in many places. 

We're included in those not-so-fun stormy times here in Vermont, but luckily it isn't as bad here - and won't be - as in many other area of the nation. 

Two rounds of powerful storms trekked from the Midwest to the Northeast since Sunday night. 

ROUND ONE 

The first began Sunday, rocking its way through Illinois, Indiana and surrounding states. There was widespread damage in and around Chicago, with roof and tree damage throughout the city. Two weak tornadoes were reported in Chicago's South Side, and winds gusted as high as 70 mph across the city. 

The disturbance that caused that erupted again Monday over western New York, dropping tennis ball sized hail in a couple towns, prompted tornado warnings and caused more tree and power line damage. This less than a week after a rare tornado outbreak in western and central New York. 

Those storms generally weakened as they headed into New England. But they were responsible for our light show and downpours last night.   

ROUND TWO

The second band of storms that originated over western Iowa grew even more intense than Sunday's blast as it headed into Illinois and Indiana last evening. Winds gusted to 75 mph at Chicago's O'Hare airport and there reports of possible tornadoes near O'Hare and Midway airports. Video showed what appeared to be a tornado moving over O'Hare. 

Radar images showed pretty tight rotation in a storm over downtown Chicago, where tornado warnings blared for a time last night. 

Wind gusted to 105 mph in an unincorporated town north of Peoria, Illinois, 101 mph in Davis Junction, Illinois just south of Rockford, and 93 mph in Lena, Illinois, a small town west of Rockford.

A woman died in Indiana when a tree fell on her home.  

VERMONT EXCITEMENT, HEAT

Burlington, Vermont reached 91 degrees Monday, the tenth day this year of 90 degree heat.  That makes it the fifth year in a row that had at least 10 such days.  That kind of streak has never happened before. Each of the past ten years has had at least eight 90 degree days. 

Lightning over St. Albans, Vermont last night. 

Previously, the longest such streak was six years in the 1940s.

We might make it to 90 again today, but that will likely be the last such day for a long time. It might not make it to 90 again this month as we anticipate a drier, cooler flow of air from the northwest starting Thursday. 

A heat advisory is in effect today for the Champlain and Connecticut Valleys. The rest of Vermont will be pretty oppressive, too.

Last night's storms hit areas that suffered the severe flooding last week. They weren't big enough to cause any serious new flooding, but it kept things wet and primed for renewed flash flooding if storms later today can produce strong enough downpours. Many areas in the northern half of Vermont had anywhere from a half inch to 1.5 inches of rain.

My unofficial rain gauge in St. Albans collected a healthy 1.3 inches of rain from last night's storms. 

The disturbance that caused the wild weather and tornadoes in and near Chicago last night is heading our way, but it won't cause nearly as much drama as it did there. 

Still, we could see a few strong to severe storms and torrential downpours out of this. They could form in hit or miss fashion any time this afternoon, but most of them will hold off until after 5 p.m. 

Forecasts since yesterday have trended a little south with the most concentrated and intense storms, which steers the focus away from northern Vermont just a bit. 

Soils in the southern half of Vermont have a much greater capacity to absorb downpours at the moment than areas in the flash flood zone further north. 

While a severe storm is possible anywhere in Vermont later today, the best chance is along and south of Route 4.  Since the strongest storms will be south, that's where the most torrential downpours will probably set up, too.

That said, the air is so humid that there could be storms later today anywhere that could dump more than an inch of rain in an hour. That would set off a few local flash floods. Definitely nothing widespread or as severe as last week, but something to keep an eye on.

Tomorrow is still a surprising wildcard, given how the forecast for Wednesday is just a day away. We know we'll start off humid. There's some disagreement still on when the cold front will come through. The later in the day it arrives, the greater the chances of strong storms and more big downpours. 

Confidence in the forecast starting Thursday and into the weekend is still high. Humidity levels will crash. Temperatures will be just slightly on the cool side for the season Thursday, then back up into the low or even mid-80s in a couple spots Saturday.

Then a reinforcing shot of cool air from Canada comes in Sunday to drop temperatures further. By then, we'll deal with ultra comfortable highs in the 70s and lows in the 50s. 

At least at the moment, it looks like there will be little if any rain at all between Thursday and and at least next Monday, and possibly beyond that.  

Another Derecho, This Time In Midwest, And Yellowstone Drowns

All those blue and black dots extending from Wisconsin
 to West Virginia represent storm damage reports from
an apparent derecho yesterday and last night. 

 Along the western, northern and eastern edges of big heat waves, you often see violent thunderstorms, the so called "Ring Of Fire" I talked about earlier this week. 

That is certainly the case with the current record heat wave gripping the middle and south of the nation. An apparent derecho formed yesterday afternoon, bringing winds gusts of up to 84 mph at Chicago's O'Hare Airport and a 98 mph gust to Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Meanwhile, out on the northwest edge of the heat, an unprecedented flood hit areas in and near Yellowstone National Park.

DERECHO

It's already been a bad year for derechos, which are defined as damaging and dangerous thunderstorm complexes that travel at least 240 miles, spreading destruction along the way. 

I don't think it's been officially declared yet, but it's apparent a derecho originated in southern Wisconsin Monday afternoon, then roared southeastward through the Chicago area, Indiana, Ohio and into West Virginia. 

NOAA's Storm Prediction Center logged 382 thunderstorm wind reports yesterday and last night, most of them in the Wisconsin to West Virginia swath. 

In Chicago, tornado sirens blared and echoed around downtown skyscrapers. No tornado is known so far to have touched down, but there was plenty of wind damage with those 84 mph gusts. Many cars and houses were damaged by falling trees. The roof of a three story apartment building peeled away. 

Travelers at O'Hare were ordered into below ground shelters or packed themselves into rest rooms, which double as tornado shelters. The air traffic control tower was evacuated, there was obviously a ground stop on all flights, so everything was and still is badly disrupted. Some planes had to be checked for hail damage before being allowed to fly. 

At least 44,000 people were without power. Some won't have their power back until after today. Record heat and humidity is forecast today in Chicago.

That 98 mph wind gust in Fort Wayne is the strongest ever recorded in that city. A SkyWest hangar near the airport was blown to pieces.  Extensive tree damage and widespread power outages continued on into Ohio and parts of West Virginia. All these areas are under the gun for record heat today. Many people will have to endure the heat without air conditioning. 

If last night's weather is confirmed as a derecho, it will already be the third destructive and deadly one to hit North America this year. On May 12, a derecho, accompanied by dust storms struck South Dakota and neighboring parts of Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota, killing two people and causing widespread damage, including the South Dakota cities of Sioux Falls, Watertown and Brookings.

Another derecho in southern Ontario and Quebec hit the most populated section of Canada on May 21 causing at least ten deaths in towns near Toronto and Ottawa. 

Part of a house falls into a flooding river in Gardiner, Montana
Monday during unprecedented flooding in and near 
Yellowstone National Park. Photo by Steve Rupho via CNN

YELLOWSTONE FLOOD

On the northwest side of the heat wave, high temperatures rapidly melted mountain snows, and torrential thunderstorms swept through areas around Yellowstone.  The combination caused unprecedented flooding in rivers across northwestern Wyoming and parts of Montana.

Yellowstone National Park was completely shut down by the flooding. The torrents swept away bridges, collapsed roads, washed away or flooded cabins and homes and stranded an unknown number of tourists. 

Luckily, the rain there is tapering off and temperatures are cooling, but the damage is done.

VERMONT IMPACTS

The Green Mountain State continues to be one of the few areas in the nation with benign weather. We have gorgeous days today and tomorrow with sunshine, seasonably warm temperatures and low humidity.

Thursday looks a bit more humid, and we'll probably see some showers and thunderstorms later Thursday into Friday. But this still looks like it won't be anything extreme. Forecasts are also steady for an unusually cool weekend and early next week. 

Time Lapse Of Lake Michigan Ice Break Is Stunning

In this still from a time lapse of Lake Michigan, a large
crack appears as a huge sheet of ice separates from 
near shore ice in Chicago.

 During that intense cold wave a couple weeks ago, large swaths of Lake Michigan finally froze over.  

Since the ice was fairly thin, it wasn't very stable.  It was prone to gusty winds that could break up much of the ice. 

Which led to a spectacular time lapse video from last weekend.  A huge section of ice broke off from the rest of the ice hugging the Chicago shore. 

In the time lapse, you can see an immense crack form, then the ice departs "out to sea," as it were.

Nobody was on that ice, so nobody had to be rescued. 

Sometimes, though, you have people on ice that breaks away from shore and floats away.  This scenario necessitates helicopter rescues and such. 

Elsewhere on Lake Michigan, a big chunk of ice with 66 ice anglers on it broke away near Green Bay, Wisconsin in early February. They all had to be rescued via boats that can cut through ice. Nobody was injured. 

A few days later, about two dozen ice fishing enthusiasts had to be similarly rescued on Lake Superior.

Here in Vermont back in 1988, 21 people had to be rescued by helicopter on Lake Champlain when the ice they were on broke away from Charlotte and floated northward amid strong south winds. 

Without further ado, here's that wild video of the ice breaking away from Chicago. As always, click on the YouTube logo to make the video bigger and easier to see.