Storm Hits Midwest; Twisters Rake Texas

A huge storm system that brought heavy snowfall to the Northwest and the Rockies pushed freezing rain and snow into the Great Lakes region Sunday, making travel hazardous from Washington state to Ohio.

Tornadoes raked the Texas coast Sunday night, ripping the roofs off homes and downing utility poles, authorities said. At least two twisters were reported in Galveston, but no injuries were reported, authorities said.

Two Found Frozen

Since Saturday, at least nine persons have died in weather-related incidents, including two persons found frozen to death in Chicago.

Winter storm watches were posted from northeastern Oklahoma east to West Virginia’s Northern Panhandle. Travelers advisories for snow and freezing rain extended across Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Kansas, Colorado and Oregon.

Strong winds and rain battered western Washington, and more snow fell on the Washington Cascades and eastern Washington. Interstate 90, the main east-west route in the state, was closed Sunday because of the danger of avalanches.

Snow in northern Utah also prompted the U.S. Forest Service to issue an avalanche warning for the Wasatch Mountains, from 40 miles south of Salt Lake City north to the Utah-Idaho state line.

During the night and morning, three inches of snow fell across northern Wisconsin near the Minnesota border and in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Three to six inches of snow accumulated in Duluth, Minn., and along the North Shore of Lake Superior.

Two Inches in Denver

Six inches of snow fell in Boulder, Colo., and up to three inches covered other parts of the state. Denver had two inches of snow.

Freezing rain glazed roads in southeastern Colorado, and thundershowers hit eastern Texas and northwestern Louisiana.

About three inches of snow fell at Prescott, Ariz., and two inches covered Indianapolis.

A National Weather Service forecaster in Chicago said that the storm system got “its start in the New Mexico region and is spreading north.”

“It’s too early to put any snowfall amount on what’s expected, but the general public and road crews should be on alert and take caution out there,” forecaster Caryl Ostrander said. “Much of the nation’s midsection is under some kind of alert for snow or freezing rain.”

Five on Boat Rescued

North of Chicago, a Coast Guard helicopter crew rescued five men from their commercial fishing boat on Lake Michigan when it became lodged in ice near Waukegan.

In Greenwood Village, Colo., high winds ripped apart a scaffolding at a church construction site, killing one man and injuring four others.