February 13–16, 2021 North American winter storm

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February 13–16, 2021 North American winter storm
File:Winter Storm Uri February 15 2021.jpg
Satellite imagery of the storm complex impacting the eastern third of the United States on February 15.
Type Extratropical cyclone
Winter storm
Blizzard
Ice storm
Tornado outbreak
Formed February 13, 2021
Dissipated Currently active
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Tornadoes confirmed 2
Max rating1 EF2 tornado
Maximum snowfall or ice accretion Snow – 26 in (66 cm) in Detroit, Oregon
Ice – 1.50 in (3.8 cm) in Canby, Oregon
Damage Unknown
Power outages > 5,000,000[1][2]
Areas affected Pacific Northwest, Western United States, Southern United States, Eastern United States
1Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita scale

The February 13–16, 2021 North American winter storm is a large extratropical cyclone, winter storm, and ice storm that is impacting the Southern United States, and is expected to impact the Midwestern and Northeastern United States within a couple of days. The winter storm resulted in over 170 million Americans being placed under various winter weather alerts across the United States and caused blackouts for over four million people.[3][1][2] The storm also brought deadly severe weather to Southeastern United States. So far, there have been at least nine direct fatalities and nine indirect fatalities attributed to the storm.[4][5][6] It was unofficially named Winter Storm Uri by The Weather Channel.[7]

Meteorological history

On February 13, a frontal storm developed off the coast of the Pacific Northwest and moved ashore, before moving southeastward, with the storm becoming disorganized in the process.[8][9] Over the next couple of days, the storm began to develop, as it entered the Southern United States and moved into Texas.[10] On February 15, the system developed a new surface low off the coast of the Florida Panhandle, as the storm turned northeastward and expanded in size.[11]

Current weather alerts

Template:WinterStormWarningsTable

Preparations and impact

United States

On February 14, the expected impacts from the storm resulted in over 170 million Americans being placed under various winter weather alerts across the United States.[3] Over 120 million of those people were placed under winter storm warnings or ice storm warnings.[12]

Western United States

File:Winter storm WA state Feb 2021.jpg
Severe blowing snow in Snoqualmie, Washington on February 13

The winter storm was the second of the two snowstorms that swept through the region within a one-week period. 11.1 inches (28 cm) of snow in Seattle compounded the previous storm.[13]

The Portland metro area was hit very hard by the storm, which brought a mix of snow and ice to the region.[13] 270,000 customers were left without power in the region, and the Governor declared a state of emergency.[2]

Southern United States

File:Snow covered Texas satellite Feb 15 2021.jpg
A snow-covered Texas in the aftermath of the winter storm on February 15

With the threat of icing, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) pre-treated roadways, using a brine-salt mix, across six Southeast Texas counties.[14]

On February 14–15, the storm dropped prolific amounts of snow across the state and neighboring Oklahoma, resulting in blackouts for at least 2.8 million Texas residents, as power grids failed across the state. As the result of the winter storm and a concurrent cold wave, two of the electricity reliability commissions servicing the southern U.S., the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), ordered rolling blackouts for 14 states amid the frigid temperatures in an attempt to manage the strain on the power grid and prevent widespread, long-duration blackouts.[1][15][16] At one point during the rolling outages, over 4.2 million people across the south-central states were without power, with over 3.5 million in Texas alone.[17] The rolling blackouts led to calls by Governor Greg Abbott for the Texas Legislature to conduct investigations into preparations and decisions undertaken by ERCOT in advance of the storm.[18] After consulting Dallas mayor Eric Johnson, an NHL game between the Nashville Predators and the Dallas Stars that was scheduled for the evening of February 15 at American Airlines Center was postponed.[19]

In Oklahoma, winter storm warnings were issued for all 77 counties in the state ahead of the storm, and Governor Kevin Stitt also issued a statewide winter weather State of Emergency on February 12, as the state was already dealing with effects from minor winter events from the days prior.[20] The heavy, blowing snow caused massive travel issues across the state on February 14. By 5:20 pm CST, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol had responded to 56 non-injury collisions, 24 injury collisions, and 116 motorist assists Sunday.[21] A fiery crash involving multiple vehicles, including two semi-trucks, shut down the Turner Turnpike near Hiwassee Road in northeastern Oklahoma County, with westbound traffic being diverted to the Kickapoo Turnpike and eastbound traffic being diverted to I-35.[22] Another vehicle collision on I-35 near Braman caused one fatality.[4] The cold temperatures during the event also caused a dam at Lake Overholser to completely freeze over.[23]

Eastern United States

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File:Ohio Snow Emergencies February 15–16, 2021.png
Map of snow emergencies in Ohio from February 15–16, 2021, at their most severe levels
Severe weather

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Main article: List of United States tornadoes from January to February 2021 § February 15 event

A severe weather outbreak struck the Southeastern United States on February 15, with large hail, damaging winds, and tornadoes affecting five states. One tornado in Damascus, Georgia caused significant damage to a mobile home and a family home, injuring one person. An even more destructive tornado near Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina caused major damage to many well-built homes, some of which were obliterated. This tornado killed three and injured 10. Two other tornadoes were also reported in Florida.[24][25]

Mexico

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File:Nieve en Monterrey.jpg
Snow in a chair in Monterrey, Mexico, on February 14.

Canada

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Snowfall warnings were issued in advance of the winter storm. Buses were cancelled across the Greater Toronto Area and schools were completely closed in Halton and Durham.[26] 20 centimetres (7.9 in) of snow fell in Windsor, 12 centimetres (4.7 in) at Pearson International Airport and 18 centimetres (7.1 in) fell in Ottawa. The highest totals in the region were the over 30 centimetres (12 in) that fell near St. Catherine's and Hamilton.[27]

See also

References

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  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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