NATIONAL STORM SUMMARY
FEBRUARY 2001
1st-3rd…A gusty snow storm over the Pacific Northwest pushed inland Friday, reducing visibility to a mile or less in some areas. Snow and rain fell in New York and New England. The Western storm brought occasionally heavy snow to the Idaho mountains. Snow amounts ranged from 3 to 6 inches in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, and wind gusts hit 60 mph as far east as the Rockies. In the central United States, snow showers over the Dakotas and northeastern Nebraska pushed into Minnesota and Iowa. Accumulations were light in most areas, ranging from 1 to 3 inches. Snow amounts near 7 inches were reported in parts of Michigan.
4th-10th…A storm plastered the Northeast with heavy, wet snow Monday, stranding drivers and airline passengers, knocking out power and closing schools from Pennsylvania to New Hampshire. Bradley International Airport near Hartford, Conn., was closed Monday afternoon. Continental Airlines canceled about 70 flights at Newark International Airport in New Jersey and all flights were delayed up to an hour. The snow pulled down tree limbs and power lines, and Pennsylvania's PECO Energy Co. reported 51,000 customers lost service. In Connecticut, 10,275 homes were without power early Monday evening. Some of the heaviest afternoon snowfall came in northwestern New Jersey, where more than a foot had fallen by evening. Roughly 2,500 homes in the northern and central parts of the state were without power early Monday evening because of downed power lines, and another 4,000 northwestern New Jersey homes were without power for at least an hour.
A complex storm system dumped sleet, freezing rain and snow over much of the central and western states Wednesday. Up to 6 inches of snow fell from Illinois to Idaho and as far south as Nevada. Parts of Iowa and South Dakota reported sleet and freezing rain as well, while California experienced clouds and rain.
Strong thunderstorms moving across Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi brought the potential for heavy rain and flash flooding Friday, while showers were making their way into the Northeast. Storms in the southern Plains pushed east into the Ohio, Tennessee and Lower Mississippi valleys. Heavy downpours, wind gusts over 50 mph, hail and lightning.
Seattle's worst storm in 5 years brought from 8 to 13 inches of snow to the city's outlying areas Friday, leaving 600,000 electricity customers without power. Expected warmer temperatures could melt the snow and cause major flooding. Elsewhere, heavy rain, hail, frequent lightning and high winds battered the Deep South, downing trees in Louisiana and flooding parts of Tennessee. Heavy rain also hit eastern Texas, while colder air caused freezing rain in southern Missouri, Arkansas and northeast Texas. A grandmother anxiously watched as an Army helicopter safely plucked her three grandchildren from the roof of a school bus while floodwaters swirled around the vehicle, threatening to sweep it downstream in China Springs, TX. The dramatic rescue came as a storm system packing hurricane-force winds lashed parts of the South on Friday, knocking out power to thousands of homes and killing at least two people. Rain totals for the past two days have approached a half-foot in some locations around the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Rain also drenched parts of Arkansas and Alabama, and wind gusts of nearly 100 mph were reported in Birmingham, where authorities said a woman was killed when a tree fell on a vehicle. Alabama Power Co. spokeswoman Sandi George said 270,000 homes and businesses were without electricity. In Mississippi, a woman was killed after she stepped out of her truck and it was blown into her, a Holmes County sheriff's dispatcher said. The storms moved into Georgia in the evening, downing trees and power lines. More than 60,000 homes were without electricity at the height of the storm, Georgia Power Co. officials said. In the Pacific Northwest, cloudy skies dominated. Washington's Puget Sound area was blanketed by a foot of snow, and slick roads in Seattle caused two traffic pileups that involved more than a dozen vehicles each. Gusting winds up to 20 mph also created near-blizzard conditions. Rain and sleet fell in the mid-Atlantic and New England states. A wet, slushy snowstorm swept up the East Coast on Thursday, closing schools and highways and causing scores of accidents, including a deadly 116-car pileup outside the nation's capital. One person was killed and more than 100 were injured in the crash on Interstate 95 about 40 miles south of Washington, state police said. The wreckage stretched more than three miles. Roads across the East Coast were coated with icy rain and snow. The storm raced from North Carolina into New York by the evening rush hour. Fatal accidents were reported in at least three states and there were scores of fender-benders. The fast-moving storm also forced schools in West Virginia and the Philadelphia area to close early. There were several multi-vehicle pileups in New Jersey, where state transportation spokesman John Dourgarian said 1,200 plows were trying to keep up with the bad
weather.
25th-28th…A line of strong thunderstorms moved inland from the Gulf of Mexico on Monday, and showers were scattered across the Southwest. The thunderstorms and scattered showers formed near the coasts of Texas and Louisiana and moved northward during the day, and by late afternoon they stretched from east Texas through central Louisiana into southern Mississippi. A large low pressure produced a wide area of light precipitation in the West and Southwest, with showers over the southern two-thirds of California and the southern tip of Nevada. Along the northern side of the area of rain, occasional snow showers were scattered over northern Arizona, southern Utah and western Colorado. Snow also fell at higher elevations of central and southern California, with 5 to 10 inches reported by afternoon at some areas above 6,000 feet. Snow also fell from northern New York state through Vermont and New Hampshire into Maine, but dwindled during the afternoon. Some parts of northern Maine collected 4 to 8 inches of snow.