Massive Winter Storm Brings Snow, Strong Winds, Frigid Cold, Thousands Of Flights Cancelled.

Brutal winter weather bringing snow, dangerous gusts of wind and bitter cold settled over much of the northern U.S. on Wednesday, shutting down roadways, closing schools and businesses and prompting dire warnings for people to stay home.

The massive storm with blizzard-like conditions to the north were part of a wild weather day across the U.S. Wind gusts, combined with snow and rain, forced closure of a long stretch of interstate highway in the Southwest. Meanwhile, many places in the mid-Atlantic down to Florida are expected to see record high temperatures — in some cases up to 40 degrees above normal.

Many schools throughout the Dakotas, Minnesota and Wisconsin were called off for Wednesday, ahead of the storm. Offices closed, and so did the Minnesota Legislature. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem shut down state executive branch offices in several parts of the state, and employees were working remotely.

In Wyoming, virtually every road was impacted, and many were closed. Officials warned they may stay that way for days.

“Please change travel plans if your are coming towards Wyoming, waiting to go west from Cheyenne or Laramie on I-80, or waiting to go east on I-80 from Rock Springs,” the Wyoming Department of Transportation posted on Facebook. “A major winter storm and multi-day closures are likely on Interstates and secondary roads throughout Wyoming!”

Michelle Wilson said business was slow at the Denny’s where she works in Fargo, North Dakota, where the morning temperatures was minus 11 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 24 degrees Celsius). Wilson wasn’t surprised — people know better than to venture out when the weather turns this dangerous.

“When the wind picks up and your in a flat land like North Dakota, it’s whiteout conditions immediately,” Wilson said.

The storm will make its way toward the East Coast later in the week. Places that don’t get snow may get dangerous amounts of ice. Forecasters expect up to a half-inch of ice in some areas of southern Michigan, northern Illinois and some eastern states.

The snowfall could be historic, even in a region accustomed to heavy snow. As much as 25 inches may pile up, with the heaviest amounts falling across east-central Minnesota and west-central Wisconsin, the National Weather Service said. Wind gusts could reach 50 mph and wind chills are expected to hit minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 46 degrees Celsius) in some parts of the Dakotas and Minnesota.

The Minneapolis-St. Paul area could see 2 feet (61 centimeters) of snow or more for the first time in over 30 years.

Temperatures in the nation’s northern tier could plunge as low as minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 29 degrees Celsius) Thursday and to minus 25 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 32 degrees Celsius) Friday in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Wind chills may fall to minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 46 degrees Celsius), said Nathan Rick, a meteorologist in Grand Forks.

Wind gusts may reach 50 mph in western and central Minnesota, resulting in “significant blowing and drifting snow with whiteout conditions in open areas,” the weather service said.

According to the weather service, the biggest snow event on record in the Twin Cities was 28.4 inches from Oct. 31 through Nov. 3, 1991 — known as the Halloween Blizzard. The second-largest was 21.1 inches of snow from Nov. 29 through Dec. 1, 1985. The Twin Cities got 20 inches of snow on Jan. 22 and Jan. 23, 1982.

Hardware store owners said residents were generally taking the forecast in stride.

At C&S Supply, an employee-owned hardware store in Mankato, Minnesota, manager Corey Kapaun said demand was high for salt and grit, but not for shovels, snow blowers or other equipment. He attributed that to the fact that winter is two-thirds over.

“I think people are either prepared or they’re not,” Kapaun said. “It’s usually the first snowfall of the year that gets a lot of attention. With a storm like this, I expected a little bit more, but we’ve already had a big year of snow already.”

Forecasters at AccuWeather said the same storm system could result in icing across a 1,300-mile (2,092 -kilometer) band from near Omaha, Nebraska, to New Hampshire on Wednesday and Thursday, creating potential travel hazards in or near cities such as Milwaukee, Detroit, Chicago and Boston.

As the northern U.S. deals with a winter blast, record warmth is expected in the mid-Atlantic and Southeast — 30 degrees to 40 degrees above normal in some places. Record highs are expected from Baltimore to New Orleans and in much of Florida, National Weather Service Meteorologist Frank Pereira said.

Washington, D.C., could hit 80 degrees on Thursday, which would top the record of 78 degrees set in 1874.

A more than 200-mile stretch of Interstate 40 from central Arizona to the New Mexico line closed Wednesday morning due to wind gusts reaching up to 80 mph, plus snow and rain. Thousands were without power in Arizona.

California was also preparing for the latest in a series of winter storms as winds that began blowing Tuesday brought the potential for rain, snow and hail for much of the state. A “major snow event” was possible in foothills and mountains near Los Angeles, with several inches predicted even for elevations as low as 1,000 feet, the weather service said.

“Nearly the entire population of CA will be able to see snow from some vantage point later this week if they look in the right direction (i.e., toward the highest hills in vicinity),” UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain wrote on Twitter.

Daytime temperatures in Southern California were unlikely to get out of the low to mid-50s and potentially damaging winds reaching 50 mph were predicted along the central coast, with gusts of 70 mph possible in mountains.

By TRISHA AHMED and JIM SALTER

Tropical Storm Nicole Drenching Florida And Georgia

Tropical Storm Nicole hit Florida as a hurricane Thursday, washing away the remaining protections for a stretch of beachfront properties that lost their seawall during Hurricane Ian only weeks before. In Daytona Beach Shores, surging ocean water threatened the foundations of at least a dozen high-rise condos and houses.

Nicole remains a sprawling tropical storm, covering nearly the entire weather-weary state of Florida early Thursday while also reaching into Georgia and the Carolinas. Damaging winds extended as far as 450 miles (720 kilometers) from the center in some directions as Nicole turned northward over central Florida Thursday morning.

Krista Dowling Goodrich, who manages 130 rental homes in Daytona Beach Shores as director of sales and marketing at Salty Dog Vacations, witnessed the beachfront disappear behind some of the properties as evacuations were under way.

“While we were there the whole backyard just started collapsing into the ocean. It went all the way up to the house,” she said. The water also compromised the remaining land between a row of tall condominium buildings nearby, she said.

Officials in Daytona Beach Shores deemed multiple multi-story coastal residential buildings unsafe, and went door-to-door telling people to grab their possessions and leave.

“These were the tall highrises. So the people who wouldn’t leave, they were physically forcing them out because it’s not safe,” Goodrich said. “I’m concerned for the infrastructure of the area right now because once the seawalls are gone, they’re not going to just let people go back in ... there will be a lot of people displaced for a while.”

The rare November hurricane prompted officials to shut down airports and theme parks and order evacuations in areas that included former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club. Authorities warned that Nicole’s storm surge could further erode many beaches hit by Hurricane Ian in September.

Nicole made landfall near Vero Beach as a Category 1 hurricane at about 3 a.m. Thursday, more than a hundred miles south of Daytona Beach Shores, before its maximum sustained winds dropped to 60 mph (100 kph), the Miami-based center said. The storm was centered about 30 miles (50 kilometers) southeast of Orlando. It was moving west-northwest near 14 mph (22 kph).

Robbie Berg, a hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami advised people to understand that hazards from Tropical Storm Nicole “will exist across the state of Florida today.” Nicole came could briefly emerge over the northeastern corner of the Gulf of Mexico Thursday afternoon before moving over the Florida Panhandle and Georgia, he said.

The storm left south Florida sunny and calm as it moved north, but could dump as much as 6 inches (15 centimeters) of rain over Blue Ridge Mountains by Friday, the hurricane center said.

A few tornadoes were possible through early Thursday across east-central to northeast Florida, the forecasters said. Flash and urban flooding will be possible, along with renewed river rises on the St. Johns River, across the Florida Peninsula on Thursday. Heavy rainfall will spread northward into the eastern Ohio Valley, Mid-Atlantic, and New England through Saturday.

Nicole became a hurricane Wednesday evening as it slammed into Grand Bahama Island. It was the first to hit the Bahamas since Hurricane Dorian, a Category 5 storm that devastated the archipelago in 2019.

For storm-weary Floridians, it is only the third November hurricane to hit their shores since recordkeeping began in 1853. The previous ones were the 1935 Yankee Hurricane and Hurricane Kate in 1985.

Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s club and home, was in one of the evacuation zones, built about a quarter-mile inland from the ocean. The main buildings sit on a small rise that is about 15 feet (4.6 meters) above sea level and the property has survived numerous stronger hurricanes since it was built nearly a century ago. The resort’s security office hung up Wednesday when an Associated Press reporter asked whether the club was being evacuated, and there was no sign of evacuation by Wednesday afternoon.

There is no penalty for ignoring an evacuation order, but rescue crews will not respond if it puts their members at risk.

Disney World and Universal Orlando Resort announced they likely would not open as scheduled Thursday.

Forty-five of Florida’s 67 counties were under a state of emergency declaration. President Joe Biden also approved an emergency declaration for the Seminole Tribe of Florida, ordering federal help for the tribal nation, many of whose members live on six reservations around the state. The tribe also owns the Hard Rock Cafe franchise, with several of its hotels and casinos in Nicole’s path.

At a news conference Wednesday in Tallahassee, Gov. Ron DeSantis said that winds were the biggest concern and significant power outages could occur, but that 16,000 linemen were on standby to restore power as well as 600 guardsmen and seven search and rescue teams.

“It will affect huge parts of the state of Florida all day,” DeSantis said of the storm’s expected landing.

Almost two dozen school districts were closing schools for the storm and 15 shelters had opened along Florida’s east coast, the governor said.

Parts of Florida were devastated by Hurricane Ian, which struck as a Category 4 storm. Ian destroyed homes and damaged crops, including orange groves, across the state — damage that many are still dealing with — and sent a storm surge of up to 13 feet (4 meters) onshore, causing widespread destruction.

By TERRY SPENCER and FREIDA FRISARO

Travelore Update: Hurricane Roslyn Makes Landfall In Mexico, Avoids Resorts

Hurricane Roslyn slammed into a sparsely populated stretch of Mexico’s Pacific coast between the resorts of Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan Sunday morning and quickly moved inland.

By Sunday morning, Roslyn had winds of 90 mph (150 kph), down from its peak of 130 mph. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Roslyn was about 95 miles (150 kms) east-southeast of the resort of Mazatlan.

The hurricane was moving north-northeast at 20 miles per hour (31 kph) and was expected to lose force as it moves further inland.

While it missed a direct hit, Roslyn brought heavy rain and high waves to Puerto Vallarta, where ocean surges lashed the beachside promenade.

Roslyn came ashore in Nayarit state, in roughly the same area where Hurricane Orlene made landfall Oct. 3.

The hurricane made landfall around the village of Santa Cruz, near the fishing village of San Blas, about 90 miles (150 kilometers) north of Puerto Vallarta.

In Tepic, the Nayarit state capital, Roslyn blew down trees and flooded some streets; authorities asked residents to avoid going out Sunday, as crews worked to clear a landslide that had blocked a local highway.

Meanwhile, beachside eateries in Puerto Vallarta where tourists had lunched unconcerned Saturday were abandoned Sunday, and at some the waves had carried away railings and small thatched structures that normally keep the sun off diners.

The head of the state civil defense office for the Puerto Vallarta area, Adrián Bobadilla, said authorities were patrolling the area, but had not yet seen any major damage.

“The biggest effect was from the waves, on some of the beachside infrastructure,” said Bobadilla. “We did not have any significant damage.”

The state civil defense office posted video of officers escorting a large sea turtle back to the water, after it had been thrown up on the beach by the large waves.

The National Water Commission said rains from Roslyn could cause mudslides and flooding and the U.S. hurricane center warned that heavy rains could cause flash flooding and landslides over the rugged terrain inland.

Travelore News: Major Hurricane Roslyn Heads For Hit On Mexico’s Coast

Hurricane Roslyn grew to Category 4 force on Saturday as it headed for a collision with Mexico’s Pacific coast, likely north of the resort of Puerto Vallarta.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Roslyn’s maximum sustained winds had increased to 130 mph (215 kph) early Saturday, and it was expected to grow still further.

The storm was centered about 170 miles (275 kilometers) south-southwest of Cabo Corrientes — the point of land jutting into the Pacific south of Puerto Vallarta — and moving north-northwest at 8 mph (13 kph).

The forecast called for Roslyn to begin shifting to a northward movement and then northeast, putting it on path that could take it close to Cabo Corrientes and the Puerto Vallarta region on Saturday night or early Sunday before making landfall in Nayarit state on Sunday morning.

Hurricane Orlene made landfall Oct. 3 a little farther north in roughly the same region, about 45 miles (75 kilometers) southeast of the resort of Mazatlan.

Hurricane-force winds extended out 30 miles (45 kilometers) from Roslyn’s core, while tropical storm-force winds extended out to 80 miles (130 kilometers), the U.S. hurricane center said.

Mexico issued a hurricane warning covering a stretch of coast from Playa Perula south of Cabo Corrientes north to El Roblito and for the Islas Marias.

Seemingly oblivious to the danger just hours away, tourists ate breakfast at beachside eateries around Puerto Vallarta and smaller resorts further north on the Nayarit coast, where Roslyn is expected to hit.

While skies began to cloud up, waves remained normal, and few appeared to be rushing to take precautions.

“The place is full of tourists,” said Patricia Morales, a receptionist at the Punta Guayabitas hotel in the laid-back beach town of the same name. Asked what precautions were being taken, Morales said, “They (authorities) haven’t told us anything.”

The Nayarit state government said the hurricane is expected to make landfall Sunday around the fishing village of San Blas, about 90 miles (150 kms) north of Puerto Vallarta.

The National Water Commission said rains from Roslyn could cause mudslides and flooding. and the U.S. hurricane center warned of dangerous storm surge along the coast, as well as 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 centimeters) of rain..

Jalisco state Gov. Enrique Alfaro said on Twitter that any school activities in the region would be cancelled Saturday and he urged people to avoid touristic activities at beaches and in mountainous areas over the weekend.

Travelore News: Hurricane Grace Makes Landfall Near Mexico’s Tulum Temples

PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico (AP) — Hurricane Grace struck Mexico’s Caribbean coast just south of the ancient Mayan temples of Tulum early Thursday, pushing a dangerous storm surge. Heavy rain and strong winds threatened to destroy flimsier homes and keep tourists off white sand beaches until it crosses the Yucatan Peninsula.

The Category 1 storm had already soaked earthquake-damaged Haiti, Jamaica and the Cayman Islands en route to a direct hit on the Riviera Maya, the heart of Mexico’s tourism industry. Grace’s center struck just south of Tulum at 4:45 a.m. CDT with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph (130 kmh), according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.

As it moved over land, the storm weakened slightly, but remained at hurricane strength early Thursday. It was moving west across the peninsula at 17 mph (28 kmh) and was located about 45 miles (70 kilometers) south-southeast of Valladolid, Mexico.

The storm was forecast to re-emerge over the Gulf of Mexico Thursday night into Friday.

On Thursday morning, the streets of Playa del Carmen north of where Grace made landfall were littered with tree branches. Some power lines hung limply and strong gusts of wind blew a stinging rain.

Quintana Roo Gov. Carlos Joaquín said the storm had knocked out power to some 84,000 customers in Cancun and 65,000 in Playa del Carmen, Cozumel, Puerto Aventura and Tulum.

One lane of the highway between Playa del Carmen and Tulum was blocked by a fallen road sign. A gas station was destroyed when a large pavilion blew down, smashing two cars.

The state had opened shelters and evacuated some hotels and residents ahead of the storm’s arrival. Grace missed the popular cruise ship destination Cozumel and came ashore south of Playa del Carmen, where the downtown, usually thumping with music and clubgoers, was eerily desolate Wednesday night. Authorities had ordered all businesses closed and people inside by 8 p.m.

One exception was Axel Felix, a 37-year-old pizza deliveryman making his last drop-off of the night in a rain slicker. “Now I’m going home and I’m not going out until tomorrow,” Felix said. “You’ve got to be careful and stay at home.”

Another was Juan González, a 25-year-old student walking his dog. “At home we will be calm with food, waiting to see what happens and with the windows protected,” he said.

With little to stand in its way on the peninsula, Grace was expected to weaken slightly then regain hurricane strength in the Gulf of Mexico before making a second landfall in Mexico later this week.

On Tulum’s main drag, tourists in plastic ponchos splashed through puddles as the wind picked up. On the beach side, the surf grew and beachgoers took shelter from the blowing sand. Armed soldiers and sailors patrolled Tulum’s streets in trucks, and businesses taped and boarded up windows as lines formed at grocery stores with families stocking up on essentials.

“We’re taking precautions, buying milk, sugar, water and cookies because we don’t know how long we’ll be shut in,” said 21-year-old homemaker Adamaris García, standing in a line of dozens of people at a small store.

Meanwhile, some tourists fretted over a lost day at the beach while others prepared for their first hurricane experience.

Johanna Geys, of Munich, Germany, was having a beer in Tulum Wednesday afternoon. It was her first time in Mexico and Grace would be her first hurricane.

“We don’t know how it is (in hurricanes), ” said Geys, a 28-year-old waitress. People have been telling her it won’t be bad.

Leaving a store with some supplies, 25-year-old California law student Sarah Lynch said she wasn’t too worried.

“We have extra water. We prepared for the hurricane and we’re just going to roll with the storm and see what happens,” Lynch said. “It’s a little scary because it’s unknown, but besides that we’re okay. We made it through COVID.”

State authorities said that as of last week, the region was hosting about 130,000 tourists and hotels were more than half full despite the pandemic.