BOSTON, March 24, (AP): It may officially be spring, but wintry weather blanketed the US on Saturday with New England and California seeing a mix of rain, heavy snow and gusty winds.
In the West, a winter storm warning was in effect through Sunday morning for parts of the Sierra Nevada, and a 91-mph (147-kph) wind gust was recorded at Mammoth Mountain near the California-Nevada line. About a foot (30 centimeters) of snow had fallen by Saturday morning north of Lake Tahoe.
A winter weather advisory was issued through Sunday night for parts of northern Arizona, the Grand Canyon and Flagstaff to the New Mexico border with up to a half foot (15 centimeters) of snow possible at upper elevations and winds gusting to 40 mph (64 kph).
The National Weather Service also warned of what it called a significant winter storm over central regions of the country through Monday.
"The winter storm will be high-impact and an extensive system producing widespread heavy snow and gusty winds that will persist over parts of the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest,” the agency said in an online post.
Heavy snow is expected to spread across central and eastern Montana and expand into the northern Plains and upper Midwest through Sunday and into Monday. There is a greater than 70% chance of at least 8 inches (20 centimeters) of snow moving from central South Dakota to northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin, the weather service reported.
In Maine, the National Weather Service warned of treacherous travel with an increase in ice forming inland from the coast, on top of snow or sleet that had already fallen.
Farther inland forecasters called for anywhere from 1 to 2 feet (30 to 61 centimeters) of snow across the mountains in western Maine and areas north and in New Hampshire’s White Mountains, according to Maura Casey, a lead forecaster for the weather service, based out of Gray, Maine.
In the lakes region of New Hampshire up to Maine, totals were expected to be somewhat lower at 6 inches to a foot (15 to 30 centimeters) with sleet and freezing rain mixing in.
Across Connecticut, New York City, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, the storm was expected to remain largely a rain event.