WASHINGTON (AP) — Chaotic weather coast to coast in the U.S. — from unusual heat in California to damaging winds around Washington, D.C. — put more than half the American public in the path of extreme conditions Monday.
Storms across the nation's eastern half forced airlines to cancel more than 3,000 flights nationwide Monday, and many schools closed early in the mid-Atlantic states where high winds and tornadoes were in the forecast.
Blizzards buried parts of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota while torrential rains flooded homes and washed out roads in Hawaii.
In Washington, the House of Representatives postponed votes because of difficulty traveling with inclement weather.
Airport delays and cancellations piled up Monday in some of the nation’s largest airports — including those in New York, Chicago and Atlanta.
“This is what happens in March and April,” said Brian Hurley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “It’s a clash in the air masses. Winter, not wanting to let go from the North, and then obviously the sun’s getting a little stronger, it’s warming up in the South.”
Forecasters warn about line of storms, tornadoes
The storm system that dropped snow by the foot in the Midwest is barreling toward the East Coast with dangerously high winds and potential for “producing strong and long track tornadoes,” the weather service warned Monday.
“Today, it’s the wind that’s really the threat,” said Northern Illinois University meteorology professor Victor Gensini.
A stretch from parts of South Carolina to Maryland appeared most likely to experience the greatest damaging winds Monday afternoon, the weather service said. That could include Raleigh, North Carolina; Richmond, Virginia; and the nation’s capital.
North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein urged residents to enable emergency alerts on their phones ahead of expected wind gusts topping 70 mph (112 kph).
Beyond the 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,“ said AccuWeather senior meteorologist Tyler Roys.
Big snows in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan
Blizzard conditions persisted Monday in parts of Wisconsin and Michigan, where the storm brought as much as 2 feet (61 centimeters) of snow by morning.
Another round of snow and gusty winds on Monday could come close to doubling those totals in upper Michigan.
Jim Allen, 45, who lives in the Upper Peninsula, said his family stocked up on necessities. “We’re basically prepared to just kind of hunker down for a few days if we need to,” he said.
The thousands of flights canceled nationwide Monday included more than 400 in and out of Chicago O’Hare International and another 300 at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International, according to FlightAware, which tracks flight disruptions.
Kelly Price, who was trying to get home to Colorado after a family vacation in Orlando, Florida, said their Sunday night flight wasn’t canceled until the early Monday morning.
“By that time the only place for us to sleep was the airport floor. So we’re all tired and frustrated,” she said, adding that the soonest flight they could book doesn’t leave until Tuesday afternoon.
Temperatures will soar into triple digits in the West
A heat dome over the Southwest will push temperatures well into the triple digits in Arizona most of the week, much earlier than the region usually sees.
Much of California is starting to feel like summer too. The San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento will see temperatures pushing toward 90 F (32 C) by midweek.
Landslides, rescues, collapsed home on Maui
Unrelenting rains triggered landslides and flooded homes and farmland in Hawaii over the weekend.
Some areas of Maui received more than 20 inches (51 centimeters) of rain, Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen said in a social media post.
Resident and real estate broker Jesse Wald, who recorded video of a coastal road’s collapse, said parts of the road were flooded by mud and sediment.
“In the 20 years I’ve been here I’ve never seen this much rain,” he said.
Storm will bring cold into the East Coast
Forecasters said the East Coast storms were expected leave sharply colder weather in its wake.
By Tuesday morning, wind chills below freezing were expected to reach the Gulf Coast and the Florida Panhandle with warnings in effect across the Southeast and in part of Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Texas, forecasters warned.
To the north, rain was expected to change over to snow behind the cold front with heavy snow possible in the central Appalachians of West Virginia.
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Brumfield reported from Cockeysville, Maryland, and Seewer from Toledo, Ohio. Associated Press writers Margery Beck in Omaha, Nebraska; Julie Walker in New York; Jeff Martin in Atlanta; Gary Fields in Washington; and Sophia Tareen in Chicago contributed.