The first major snowstorm of the season struck Maine Sunday night leaving over 135,000 without power.
The National Weather Service said that Bangor, Maine received 12 inches of snow before the storm weakened and some outlying areas reported more than a foot. A Portland television station reported they passed a foot by 5:30 p.m.
Heavy snow and gusty winds combined to bring down trees, snapping power lines and in some cases poles. Roads across Bangor were closed because of the downed lines blocking major roadways.
Power officials hope to have all the darkened customers back on by Wednesday.
“The utility placed extra crews on standby for the weekend in anticipation of the storm,” Emera spokesman Bob Potts said in a news release. “They will remain in the field addressing problems and working to restore service to customers as safely and quickly as possible.”
Emera had 57,000 customers without power in their region.
Forecasters say the temperatures will rise into the 50s by midweek so the snow will quickly disappear.
Hurricane Gonzalo, which reeked havoc on Bermuda last week, has continued to move through the Atlantic Ocean and is taking aim at Great Britain.
Great Britain is just over 3,400 miles away from Bermuda.
Gonzalo is expected to make landfall with 75 mile per hour winds and forecasters say it likely will not lose much strength when it heads inland. Massive disruption to travel and public transportation.
“There will be strengthening winds and rain over Ireland in the middle of the evening as the storm comes in from the Atlantic,” forecaster Sean Penston said. “It will reach north-western parts of Britain late in the evening, with gusts up to 45mph over north-western parts of Scotland by midnight, but these will increase to gusts up to 75mph during the night.”
The Met Office issued a “yellow warning.”
“Fallen leaves impeding drainage increases the risk of surface water affecting roads, while some damage to trees is possible, given that many are still in full leaf.”
Gonzalo caused widespread damage, blackouts and flooding when it hammered Bermuda last week.
Hawaii could be facing another hurricane.
Tropical Storm Ana is moving toward Hawaii after increasing in strength from a tropical depression to tropical storm Monday. Forecasters say the storm will likely reach Category 1 hurricane status before it makes landfall on the Big Island Saturday morning.
“Traditionally, tropical systems struggle to maintain strength as they approach Hawaii from the southeast,” said AccuWeather.com Meteorologist Evan Duffey. “However, abnormally warm water south of Hawaii could support an organized tropical system surviving into Hawaii.”
Even if the storm falls back to tropical storm status, it will still bring flooding, high surf, strong winds and heavy rain to the entire state.
The storm will be the second time this year Hawaii is hit with a major tropical storm. Hurricane Iselle struck the islands in August, marking the first time since record keeping began in 1950 that a storm of hurricane intensity struck the islands.
The year’s most powerful storm is focusing on Okinawa.
Japan, which has been recovering from a strike from Typhoon Phanfone last week that dumped heavy rain and battered the country with high winds, is directly in the path of Typhoon Vongfong.
Vongfong is classified as a “Super Typhoon” and is over open water. The Hawaii-based Joint Typhoon Warning Center says the storm has sustained winds of 179 miles per hour and gusts over 219 miles per hour. Forecasts say the sustained winds will strengthen to 190 miles per hour at the storm’s peak.
Vongfong is the sixth “Super Typhoon” in the Pacific this year. While the storm season has seen half the usual amount of storms, the number of Super Typhoons is double the season average.
Japanese officials are concerned about the storm striking so soon after Phanfone, which disrupted air and sea travel, led to the disappearance of two American soldiers and forced suspension of searches for bodies on Mount Ontake.
Storms sparked in part by Hurricane Norbert off the Mexican coast have brought record amounts of rainfall to Phoenix resulting in massive flooding.
Governor Jan Brewer declared a state of emergency for the flooding and ordered all non-essential government workers to stay home because of the extremely dangerous conditions.
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport recorded a record two inches of rainfall. Channel 12 in Phoenix reported some areas with rainfall totals surpassing 5 inches. The flood was called “the biggest in 44 years.”
“Occasionally we’ll get a storm that really dumps on the west end of U.S. 60, or the central part, but not to this extent over the whole urban area,” Steve Waters of the Maricopa County Flood Control District told AZCentral.com. “There is still rain coming from the southwest. We’re going to be in this for the better part of the day.”
Maricope County Flood Control District officials told people to avoid driving Monday.
At least 10,000 homes and businesses were without power as of Monday morning because of the storms.
Scotland is looking at the possibility of breaking out the snowplows.
IN AUGUST.
A wave of bitter Arctic cold is predicted to descend over the British Isles and bring the coldest wave of weather in August since 1919. Temperatures are forecast to be near freezing overnight and there is a chance of snow and sleet over parts of Scotland.
The high temperatures are not expected to climb about 48 degrees with high winds bring wind chills to well below freezing. The Met Office reports that it’s possible some areas will not even reach 40 degrees during the cold wave.
The normal high temperatures for the region in August run from 75 to 78 degrees.
Complicating the situation is heavy rain that is predicted to hit the islands for the next few days. With the land already saturated from a hurricane that came through weeks ago, the likelihood is high for flooding on top of the frigid temperatures.
‘The weather is certainly looking disappointing for the next couple of weeks,” forecaster Billy Payne of MeteoGroup said, tongue firmly in cheek. “It’s going to be cool and rather unsettled – there’s not much to be optimistic about.”
A surprisingly strong storm caused over 25 tornadoes to touch down in Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Indiana according to local officials and the National Weather Service.
One twister that struck Sutton, Nebraska blew the roof off City Hall and completely destroyed at least one farm outside of the town. Police Chief Tracey Landenberger said it was so dark that you couldn’t see anything. Chief Landenberger suffered minor injuries by flying glass.
Missouri Governor Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency after a tornado destroyed or damaged up to 300 homes in Orrick, Missouri, about 30 miles east of Kansas City.
The tornadoes had to share the weather news day with a freak winter storm in the Rocky Mountains.
The National Weather Service issued multiple Winter Storm Warnings and said at one point high winds and blowing snow forced the closure of 150 miles of Interstate 80 in Wyoming.
Meteorologists say the storm is so slow moving that parts of Denver could get an additional 9 inches of accumulation during the day Monday and that higher elevations could receive well over a foot of new precipitation.
The record-setting polar vortex not only broke temperature records throughout the United States but also threatened the nation’s power grid and transportation systems.
Forecasters say that the frigid temperatures from the polar vortex will impact 187 million people or almost 59% of the entire United States population.
Amtrak said at least 500 passengers were stranded on trains stuck in high snow or incapacitated by extreme cold in areas around Chicago. Trains from Los Angeles, San Francisco and Quincy, Illinois could not make it into Chicago because of impassable conditions.
Airports in Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Boston and other major Midwest and East Coast cities cancelled thousands of flights because of cold temperatures.
Power officials from Texas to Maine expressed concern about the pull on the nation’s power grid. Multiple utility systems are reporting the highest levels of draw in four to six months along with extensive increases in natural gas use. Government officials have been telling residents to stay in their homes because of the bitter cold.
Several major cities faced significant power outages such as Indianapolis where tens of thousands of homes were left in the dark.
The last time New York City faced the cold it’s facing today, Grover Cleveland occupied the Oval Office, Utah was admitted as the 45th state, and the first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens, Greece.
Central Park in New York registered 4 degrees Tuesday morning passing the previous record of 6 degrees. The temperature on Tuesday was 50 degrees lower than Monday.
Wind chills throughout New York will remain well below zero throughout the next two days.
The weather in New York was so cold that Amtrak had to suspend service because their signals stopped working due to the cold weather.
Other record lows were set throughout the country. Chicago broke a record with -16 degrees, Fort Wayne, Indiana saw -13 degrees. Multiple towns in Oklahoma and Texas reported record lows along with wind chills passing -40 degrees.
New England is in the path of a major snowstorm that will begin Thursday and continue into the weekend.
Two storm cells are merging in the mid-Atlantic region and moving up the Eastern seaboard. Blizzard like conditions are likely from New York through Boston and into Maine.
Officials say it won’t be one of the worst storms to hit the area but the frigid temperatures combined with the snow will make traveling through the area very hazardous. Residents are being warned that long-term power outages are a possibility from the heavy snow and high winds.
The storm is also expected to cause major headaches for travelers who are returning from Christmas and New Years vacations.
Transportation officials are warning that layers of ice are likely to form on highways after nightfall and are advising people to stay in through Friday if possible.