Wintry, spring storms sweep country
Omaha, Neb. ? A snowy storm swept through the Plains on Sunday, dumping up to a foot of heavy, wet snow across Nebraska as it headed east.
One person was killed in an accident north of St. Paul, state police said; no further details were available. There were numerous weather-related accidents on Interstate 80, but no other serious injuries were reported.
By Sunday evening, snow was falling at a rate of an inch an hour in eastern Nebraska as the storm system headed into Iowa.
The National Weather Service reported that a foot had fallen in Greeley and Hastings.
Evening temperatures were expected to drop into the 20s, causing what had been a late-afternoon rain in some areas to turn to snow, said National Weather Service forecaster Becky Griffis.
Accumulations between 6 and 10 inches were expected by early today across the state.
Western New York, meanwhile, continued to chip away at remnants of a late-season ice storm that knocked out lights and heat to more than 300,000 homes.
Adding to the misery, temperatures dipped back below freezing Sunday after a warm spell melted most of the ice from the day before.
“We’re burning wood in the fireplace, staying warm under quilts and just bundling up and cuddling a lot,” said Barb Murphy, of Rochester, N.Y.
To the south, in the eastern Texas community of Tatum, a possible tornado hit a mobile home park Sunday afternoon, damaging about 35 homes, as a band of severe thunderstorms swept through. No serious injuries were reported.