Eastern Cornbelt:
High winds caused power outages in parts of Illinois on Dec. 15-16, with top wind speeds reported at 70 mph in some northern areas of the state and up to 40-50 mph in central Illinois. The same storm system had earlier hammered the Western Cornbelt with tornadoes and 100-mph wind gusts, but it weakened as it approached Wisconsin and Illinois.
Wet, windy weather was also reported across central and northern Indiana at midweek, with reports of 50-mph wind gusts in parts of northern Ohio on Dec. 16.
Western Cornbelt:
Strong storms caused widespread damage across parts of Iowa and Nebraska at midweek, prompting multiple tornado warnings and a disaster declaration from Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds for 43 Iowa counties. Wind speeds over 90 mph were reported in Lincoln, Neb., on Dec. 15, with multiple locations reporting gusts over 100 mph.
Strong winds also battered parts of Missouri at midweek, with reports of up to 165,000 power outages in the Kansas City and St. Joseph areas.
California:
A powerful weather system brought heavy rain and snow to California during the week, resulting in numerous flash floods and mudslides.
Rainfall totals included more than 11 inches in some areas north of San Francisco, 8.1 inches in parts of Santa Barbara County, and nearly five inches in Orange County south of Los Angeles. Snow totals ranging from 3-5 feet were reported in the Sierra Nevada, along with 60-mph wind gusts.
The heavy precipitation is desperately needed to pull the state out of critical drought conditions. As of Dec. 16, most of California remained in extreme-to-exceptional drought, with small patches of moderate-to-severe drought reported in far northwestern and southern areas of the state.
Pacific Northwest:
A strong storm brought winter weather conditions to much of the Pacific Northwest at mid-month. In Oregon, heavy rain was reported in western areas of the state, with freezing temperatures contributing to significant snowfall in the Cascades.
Midweek snowfall was also reported across Idaho, eastern Washington, and western Montana, with several inches of accumulation reported in the valleys and several feet at higher elevations in the mountains.
The prior weekend brought heavy rain and gusty winds to western Washington as well, along with significant mountain snowfall ranging from 18-24 inches at Snoqualmie and Stevens Pass and as much as 3-4 feet at Mount Rainer and Mount Baker.
Western Canada:
Extremely cold temperatures developed over much of Western Canada as the week progressed, along with potentially heavy snowfall in some areas.
In British Columbia, extreme cold warnings were in effect at midweek for the Peace River and Dease Lake regions, with lows falling to -26 C and wind chills dipping to -40 C. Parts of Alberta and Saskatchewan experienced similar arctic temperatures, with highs in Edmonton, Prince Albert, and Saskatoon failing to climb above -20 C on Dec. 16.
Parts of northern Manitoba were bracing for blizzard conditions on Dec. 16, with reports of heavy snow and 60 km/h winds in Churchill and York. Snowfall was also in the forecast for British Columbia’s Cariboo, West Columbia, and Williston regions late in the week.