Snow, other wild wintry weather springs up

(USA Today) – A ferocious storm that dumped heavy snow across parts of the Rockies and northern Plains on Tuesday could bring tornadoes and severe weather to portions of the central and southern Plains on Wednesday.

Winter storm warnings were in effect from New Mexico to Wisconsin, and portions of Utah were under blizzard warnings.

Eastbound Interstate 80 from Cheyenne, Wyo., to Big Springs, Neb., was closed Tuesday night, and it could be midday Wednesday before the Nebraska stretch reopens.

The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center (SPC) reported that Oklahoma City and Wichita Falls, Texas, were under the greatest threat for tornadoes and big hailstorms later Tuesday and into Wednesday. Dallas, Tulsa, Wichita and the Kansas City area also could see severe weather.

Much of the central and southern Plains were under a “slight” risk for severe weather by the SPC. The SPC has three levels of severe weather risk: slight, moderate and high. In all, about 20 million people were at risk of severe weather Tuesday night.

On Monday, four tornadoes were reported in northeastern Colorado. No injuries were reported. Farther west, wild winds from the storm lashed portions of California and Arizona, knocking out power to thousands and fanning wildfires.

In Denver, about 6.5 inches of snow came with a shocking temperature drop: The city reached 71 degrees Monday afternoon, but it was 15 degrees by Tuesday afternoon, AccuWeather reported.

As forecasters predicted 6 to 11 inches of snow, Denver Public Schools closed all schools and offices Tuesday. Colorado’s largest school district, Jeffco Public Schools, also canceled classes.

Snow in Denver in April isn’t that unusual, according to the National Weather Service. The city usually averages just under 7 inches of snow each April. However, the frigid temperatures are far below average.

Denver International Airport reported more than 500 canceled flights early Tuesday and warned travelers to be ready for delays while planes were de-iced. About half of the cancellations were commuter flights, airport officials said.

Flights bound for Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, meanwhile, were being delayed an average of nearly four hours because of dense fog.

In Wyoming, a 100-mile stretch of Interstate 25 between Cheyenne and Douglas was closed Tuesday as well as a 125-mile section of I-80 between Laramie and Rawlins. Between 18 and 29 inches of snow was reported in Lander, Wyo., while 14 inches were reported in Casper, AccuWeather reported.

Snowdrifts of up to 9 feet high were reported in Scotts Bluff County, Neb., AccuWeather said.

Snow was forecast throughout the day Tuesday across the mountains of Utah, much of Colorado and Wyoming, and into western, central, and northeastern portions of South Dakota, according to the Weather Channel.

Freezing rain and ice was reported in eastern portions of South Dakota. AccuWeather reported that up to one inch of ice had accumulated on trees and power lines in the Sioux Falls area.

An icy mix of sleet and freezing rain was likely Tuesday night for eastern Nebraska, far northwest Iowa, southeast South Dakota, and much of southern Minnesota, the Weather Channel said. Southeast South Dakota and southern Minnesota were at the greatest risk for significant ice accumulation.

The precipitation was welcomed by farmers and ranchers across the parched Plains, but it could not have come at a worse time: Cows and sheep are giving birth to this year’s herds, and farmers and ranchers are struggling to keep the babies alive in below-zero wind chill and heavy snow conditions.

“It makes for a lot of work but no one is complaining about the moisture,” said Leanne Kennedy, who has ranched with her husband, Mick, for 40 years near Faith, S.D. Despite precautions, the Kennedys lost four calves overnight Monday because of the cold, Leanne Kennedy said.

About 22% of the nation’s 5.35 million sheep are in Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska and South Dakota, according to USDA statistics. That area of the country was slammed Tuesday by snow and high winds. Lambing season has been underway in those states for weeks, said Peter Orwick, executive director of the American Sheep Industry Association. He said it will be days before it’s known how bad this storm affected the birthing process.

It has been so dry in central South Dakota that “I will readily accept this weather,” said Holabird, S.D., cattle producer Nick Nemec.

The Weather Channel named the storm Winter Storm Walda as part of its winter storm-naming system, though neither private weather services nor the National Weather Service referred to it by that name.

As for why it’s called a “winter” storm – even though it’s spring – that’s how storms with snow, sleet and freezing rain are referred to by the weather service.

More severe weather is forecast from the storm in the Mississippi Valley on Wednesday.