‘Historic’ blizzard bomb cyclone unfolding… Winter Storm Ulmer Coverage
‘Bomb cyclone’ brings blizzards, flooding and hurricane-force winds to the central US, and it’s not over
A “bomb cyclone” is dumping snow and heavy rain on the central United States, stranding travelers, leaving tens of thousands without electricity and leading to a police officer’s death in Colorado.
- Bombogenesis refers to a rapidly intensifying area of low pressure.
- To be classified as a weather bomb, the central pressure of a low-pressure system must drop at least 24 millibars within 24 hours.
- Winter Storm Ulmer became a bomb cyclone Wednesday.
The storm’s center was over Iowa and Nebraska early Thursday, and while it did its worst damage in the Plains, it will continue delivering dangerous weather conditions to 105 million people who are under some sort of watch, warning or advisory as it moves east.
A bomb cyclone occurs when there is a rapid pressure drop, with a decrease of at least 24 millibars — a measure of atmospheric pressure — over 24 hours. This storm dropped 33 millibars from Tuesday into Wednesday.
Blizzard conditions will continue axross the northeast plains this morning, with a gradual improvement elsewhere. #cowx pic.twitter.com/XzrhqUjsII
— NWS Boulder (@NWSBoulder) March 14, 2019
The storm brings with it all manner of nastiness. While Colorado is seeing blizzard conditions, Iowa and Illinois are experiencing flooding, especially in areas along the Mississippi River. Nebraska has been hit hard by flooding, while the Platte, Elkhorn and Missouri rivers have topped their banks in Missouri.
Winds of more than 100 mph have slammed into San Augustin Pass, New Mexico, and Pine Springs, Texas. Through early Thursday, residents of Colorado, Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma can expect winds of between 30 and 50 mph, with gusts in some areas reaching 65 mph, according to forecasts.
A historic March blizzard is taking shape across Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota. Between 1 and 2 feet of snow is expected in some locations with wind gusts as high as 80 MPH. DO NOT TRAVEL if you live in these areas! https://t.co/VyWINDk3xP pic.twitter.com/TG0rEQCise
— NWS (@NWS) March 13, 2019
A preliminary new all-time record low surface pressure of 975.1 hPa (29.80″) occurred at Pueblo, #Colorado just after 13 UTC today, during this #GOESEast/#GOES16 water vapor loop. More #bombcyclone info at https://t.co/y9z7xXZCY1 pic.twitter.com/rrlGogyaz5
— UW-Madison CIMSS (@UWCIMSS) March 13, 2019
45 inches of snow in southern Colorado
Adding to the misery of those in its path, the bomb cyclone threatens to bring severe storms, flash flooding, dense fog and possible tornadoes as it treks across the central part of the country.
Tornado watches have been issued in Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee.
About 175,000 people are without power, most of them in Colorado and Texas. Several Colorado school districts closed Wednesday and Thursday, with Denver Public Schools citing “severe storm, power outages across the city and poor road conditions.”
Denver is one of the hardest-hit areas, though Wolf Creek Pass, near the New Mexico border, has recorded 45 inches of snow. Blizzard and avalanche warnings have been issued across Colorado.
The snow will keep falling over the Dakotas and western Minnesota, with some areas seeing as much as a foot of the white stuff. Parts of South Dakota have already gotten 15 inches of snow.
80 mph peak wind gust recorded at the Denver International Airport ASOS at 1144 AM MDT. #cowx pic.twitter.com/ZXnBteWket
— NWS Boulder (@NWSBoulder) March 13, 2019
Flooding from heavy rain and a melting snowpack is threatening towns across the Midwest, swelling waterways to historic levels in places, compromising flood protections and triggering evacuations for hundreds of residents in Nebraska.
A third of the 24,000 residents in Norfolk, Nebraska, were ordered to evacuate Thursday after the city’s levee system “neared its top,” city officials said. One person was reported missing after their car was swept away, News Channel Nebraska reported.
“Our ability to respond to emergencies is limited. This is a real threat for us. If that levee is breached, the water is trapped in town and we’ll see flooding like we haven’t seen since 1965 and there’s nowhere for the water to go,” Norfolk Public Safety Director Shane Weidner said.
Evacuations have begun south of Omaha Avenue. Residents in the area from 7th St E. to Victory Rd and Eisenhower S. to the Elkhorn River are strongly encouraged to seek higher ground. It is vital that you DO NOT drive through standing or rushing water. Questions call: 402-844-2241 pic.twitter.com/DUtvhTvext
— City of Norfolk, NE (@NorfolkNE) March 14, 2019
According to a report by the National Weather Service, the Spencer Dam at the Niobrara River failed around 5 p.m. Wednesday, prompting the evacuation of dozens of residents.
The Knox County Sheriff’s Office posted a notice on Facebook Thursday morning warning residents, noting that the dam had been “compromised.”
The Nebraska State Patrol tweeted a photo showing where a bridge on Highway 281 over the Niobrara River south of the dam had washed away.
The bridge on Highway 281 over the Niobrara, south of Spencer Dam appears to be gone.
Highway 281 is already closed in this area.
This was taken this morning. pic.twitter.com/0tuejsVGK8
— NEStatePatrol (@NEStatePatrol) March 14, 2019
A hospital and nursing home were evacuated in Genoa, Nebraska, after the Loup River overtopped an intake structure at the the Loup Power Division, New Channel Nebraska reported.
The Nebraska State Patrol is assisting with evacuations but are having trouble accessing the community, News Channel Nebraska reported. The station also notes there are “no safe evacuation routes.”
Flood images from northeast Nebraska this morning.
Aerial – Norfolk levee
Stop sign – St. Edward
SUVs under water – near Columbus
Trees – near Genoa pic.twitter.com/hQZAbLRb4I— NEStatePatrol (@NEStatePatrol) March 14, 2019
Semi truck being blown over and sliding into the ditch in Amarillo Tx!!! Extreme winds gusting to 80MPH with wind spread damage throughout the area. #txwx #highwindwarning pic.twitter.com/aTyVT2KyKb
— Blake Brown (@BlakeBrownWx) March 13, 2019
Wyoming closed state offices in Cheyenne, while South Dakota’s governor ordered state offices closed in 39 central and western counties because of the storm.
‘Rescuing rescuers’
About 250 vehicles were stuck early Thursday on a roadway in central Colorado, and some drivers have been waiting hours to be rescued, said Jacqueline Kirby, spokeswoman for the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office.
As of 11 p.m. Wednesday, “we still had 1,100 people stranded who had been there anywhere from an hour to seven hours,” Kirby said. “We’ve had a variety of calls. We have diabetic individuals. We have people with children. We have a pregnant woman.”
The weather has been so severe in the state that law enforcement officers had to abandon their vehicles and take shelter themselves instead of responding to the high volume of accidents, officials said.
How severe are conditions out there? Here’s a clip from Monument and why we want everyone to stay home if at all possible. Let @ColoradoDOT plows and crews, and emergency vehicles, respond as needed. #COwx https://t.co/AJmr7gTD9z
— NWS Boulder (@NWSBoulder) March 13, 2019
Today’s US wind map is mesmerizing https://t.co/JIImDPZlaq pic.twitter.com/wvwinMt2gF
— Cynthia Thomson (@ccthomson) March 13, 2019
“We are at the point where we are rescuing rescuers out there,” Elbert County Manager Sam Albrecht said.
In Weld County, north of Denver, State Patrol Cpl. Daniel Groves, 52, was struck by a car Wednesday while assisting a motorist whose car slid off Interstate 76, according to the state police. Groves, on the job since 2007, was declared dead at a hospital.
High speed and poor conditions are possible factors being investigated, police said. No charges had been filed.
On Wednesday, 100 vehicles were involved in an accident on Interstate 25 near Wellington, Colorado, according to Wellington Fire Protection.
There were no fatalities, according to the fire department’s Facebook page, but there were injuries ranging from minor to serious. Emergency responders came from both Colorado and Wyoming.
Handing out blankets at airports
More than 3,700 flights have been canceled over two days. About 2,000 flights were canceled Wednesday, and at least 1,700 had been dropped by early Thursday, according to data from the flight-tracking site Flightaware.com.
Denver International Airport was hit the hardest. All runways were closed Wednesday because of icy conditions and extremely poor visibility caused by the intense storm, the airport said on Twitter. Roads around the airport were also closed or blocked by traffic accidents for much of the day.
Airport employees handed out blankets to accommodate passengers who were stuck overnight.
“For those passengers joining us overnight, we want you to be as comfortable as possible. Please stop by the customer service booths on Concourses A, B or at baggage claim 9 in the terminal and pick up a blanket,” an airport tweet said Wednesday evening.
The airport announced on Twitter early Thursday that four of its six terminals have reopened, but more than 700 flights into or out of Denver have been canceled for the day.
The storm will move east Thursday, bringing what the National Weather Service calls “a Great Plains cyclone of historic proportions.”
One female occupant was injured in this small modular home off Bramblett Rd and Hwy 4 southwest of Cleburne. She was transported by AMR to the hospital. No other info on this call. @NWSFortWorth pic.twitter.com/2Z5hAKt8pP
— Johnson County EM (@jocotx_em) March 13, 2019
In Iowa, flooding closed several highways, including the closure Thursday of Interstate 680 near Council Bluffs and a portion of Interstate 29, the Associated Press reports.
Just before 11 a.m., the mayor of Hornick, Iowa, ordered the town’s residents to evacuate immediately because of a levee breach.
Several breached levees prompted evacuations in Missouri Valley, the AP also reports.
On Wednesday, a line of powerful storms in Texas brought damaging winds that knocked out power to tens of thousands, toppled mobile homes and ripped off roofs.
Southern portions of Kilgore, Texas, in Rusk County reported widespread damage from high winds, the Kilgore Police Department said, noting that there were many power lines down.
Rusk County Office of Emergency Management said Thursday all roads in and out of Kilgore are “severely limited.”
Early Wednesday, a woman was injured after wind knocked over a mobile home onto a parked vehicle near Cleburne, Texas. The woman, who was inside the mobile home when it overturned, was transported to an area hospital, but there is no word on the extent of her injuries, the Johnson County Emergency Management tweeted.
The storms caused damage to several planes at the Grand Prairie Municipal Airport and forced the closure of the President George Bush Turnpike near Dallas after high winds toppled a semitrailer, the Dallas News reports.
The sun is up, and it’s not looking good at Grand Prairie Municipal Airport. Here are our first shots of some of the planes damaged and flipped by this morning’s heavy winds and storms. Officials say could be 12-15 destroyed. @WBAP247NEWS @570KLIF pic.twitter.com/CZE3UifexQ
— Scott Sidway (@ScottyWK) March 13, 2019
Winds ripped off the roof of an Amazon warehouse facility near DFW airport. Video posted to social media show sheets of metal from the structure striking vehicles parked outside of the building. No injuries were reported.
JUST IN: Witness shares video of moment wind rips roof off Amazon facility near DFW Airport. MORE: https://t.co/45d8zib7eB pic.twitter.com/V7bVEAsDoL
— Larry Collins (@LarryNBC5) March 13, 2019
Major damage to what we are told is an Amazon logistics facility near DFW Airport after strong storm overnight. #NBCDFWStorms @TXThunderTruck pic.twitter.com/fEvTfIP7uN
— Larry Collins (@LarryNBC5) March 13, 2019
Damage was also reported at a Federal Aviation Administration facility near DFW airport.
Damage at Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) facility near DFW Airport from strong overnight storm. pic.twitter.com/g3HhKquuRI
— Larry Collins (@LarryNBC5) March 13, 2019
As the storms approached, students at the University of Texas Arlington were urged to shelter in place, the Dallas News said.
Extensive damage was also reported in the town of Zephyr, about 160 miles southwest of Dallas, Big County reported.
More than 64,000 customers remained without power Thursday in Texas, according to poweroutage.us.
Currently Colorado has 85k without power.
We will keep you updated with indepth coverage! Be sure to catch us live tonight at 9PM EST on our Youtube Channel!
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