NATIONAL STORM SUMMARY

DECEMBER 2006

1st-9th...A surprising early winter storm rolled across the central
United States overnight and today, stranding airline passengers,
shutting schools and leaving hundreds of thousands of households in
darkness due to ice and wet snow. The men's NCAA soccer semifinals
scheduled for tonight in St. Louis was postponed because of heavy snow
and ice blanketing the city. The two games, pitting Virginia against
UCLA and Wake Forest against California-Santa Barbara, will be played
Saturday at Saint Louis University.
Authorities in football-loving Oklahoma even postponed the high school
playoffs for the first time in 14 years.
Snowfall in Amarillo, Texas reached seven inches, topping the totals in
downtown Chicago, although the northwestern suburbs of the city counted
more than a foot of snow in places. Traffic snarled and public
officials urged people to stay off the roads. Flights were cancelled by
the hundreds in Dallas and Chicago and countless points in between. In
Chicago, a FedEx cargo plane skidded off a runway into the mud and
needed to be towed to solid ground. Early this evening, flights bound
for Philadelphia and New York's LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy
International airports were being delayed more than three hours. Some
of the heaviest snow and gloomiest conditions struck Missouri, where a
50-mile stretch of Interstate-70 was closed to traffic for several
hours early Friday. Sedalia, in western Missouri, registered 18 inches
of snow before the storm churned away.
At least two deaths were blamed on the storm as it moved over the
southern Plains yesterday, news agencies reported. In Oklahoma, one
person was killed in a weather-related car accident and about 10 people
were injured today, according to the state's Office of Civil Emergency
Management, Bloomberg news reported. And in Missouri, a snow plow
struck a van transporting a prisoner, killing him, the news agency
reported. The cold tempest, which came with thunder and high winds, was
all the more startling in the upper Midwest because the past 10 days
had proven unseasonably warm. Temperatures reached into the 60s on
Thanksgiving in many parts of the region. As drivers on the interstates
inched along, lest they turn their commutes into bumper car rides,
Manitowoc, WI, mayor Kevin Crawford decided retreat was the better part
of valor during a planned work trip.

10th-16th...Active weather continued in the Northwest as a strong
Pacific storm moved ashore near the Puget Sound bringing heavy rain and
wind gusts over 60 mph to the region. Weather stations throughout the
region recorded over an inch and a half of rainfall by early afternoon,
and rain continued to pour down across many areas. In the Cascades,
snow fell throughout the morning hours, with scattered reports of snow
accumulations up to 7 inches, and snowfall rates of 2 inches an hour.
Rain and high elevation snow pushed inland throughout Washington and
into Idaho's Panhandle. Precipitation also spread south down the Oregon
and California coasts, where rain and light and spotty drizzle was
reported. Clouds and drizzle tapered off along California's Central
Coast, and south of Point Conception, skies became mostly sunny. The
Florida Peninsula got a decent helping of rain on Thursday as well as
the tail end of a nearly stationary front lingered through the northern
part of the state. Numerous thunderstorms rolled through Florida
throughout the day, dropping up to an inch of rain, and producing a few
areas of gusty wind. Clouds associated with the front triggering these
storms were also spread across the Southeast coast Thursday, but gave
way to mostly clear skies into the Appalachians and north into the
Mid-Atlantic. Further north, clouds entered the picture throughout the
Mid-West, Great Lakes and New England ahead of a northward moving warm
front. A few showers were reported in the western Great Lakes but more
importantly, the warm front was pushing unseasonable warmth into the
region.
A major storm slammed the Northwest coast on Friday, downing trees and
power lines with winds clocked at up to 80 mph in parts of Washington.
A 100 mph gust was registered in the Cascade Mountain range. The storm
dumped more heavy snow in the Northwest, prompting winter storm
warnings, with up to a foot of snow reported in higher elevations of
the Cascades. Strong wind and snow accompanied the storm as it moved
eastward toward the northern Rocky mountains. High wind warnings were
posted for most of Montana as westerly winds of up to 65 mph were
expected.

17th-23rd...A major snowstorm blew across Colorado toward the Plains on
Wednesday,
dumping more than a foot of snow in some places and forcing the airport
to close, stranding thousands of holiday travelers. Authorities at
times shut down
major highways in parts of six states. The National Weather Service
posted blizzard warnings for most of eastern Colorado and adjoining
sections of Nebraska and Kansas. A day earlier, the storm had pummeled
New Mexico with up to a foot of snow. The storm struck Denver just as
the morning commute was starting. "I'm going to grab my computer, talk
to my boss and go back home," Jennifer Robinson said after driving
about 20 miles from her home in Boulder to her sales job in downtown
Denver. "I'm not going to take a risk and get stuck in Denver." Denver
International Airport closed in mid-afternoon and was expected to
remain so until at least Thursday evening, said spokesman Steve Snyder.
More than 1,000 flights were canceled through Thursday, and as many as
3,000 people were stranded at the airport. Stranded travelers sprawled
on benches and floors, or stood in long lines at ticket counters trying
to make new reservations.
"I'm trying to book another flight, but I'll probably be spending the
night at
the airport," said Michael Heitc, 54, of Denver, who was trying to get
to Oregon
to visit relatives for the holidays. Colorado Gov. Bill Owens declared
a state of emergency and activated the National Guard in case stranded
motorists needed to be rescued. Authorities closed portions of
interstate highways in Wyoming, Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico
and Texas throughout the day, including nearly all of Interstate 25 in
Colorado, the state's busiest north-south route.
"They pulled everyone off the highway," said Leon Medina, manager of a
truck
stop on Interstate 25 in Walsenburg, about 130 miles south of Denver.
"Cars are
all around the building. Trucks are all over, trucks and cars pulled
into
ditches." Scores of schools were closed, and the NBA's Denver Nuggets
canceled their game Wednesday night against the Phoenix Suns. Travelers
stalled by the closures filled Kansas motels, said Stan Whitley, a
spokesman for the state Department of Transportation. The lumbering
storm dropped more than a foot of snow in Colorado's southwestern
mountains Tuesday, with 19 inches at the Wolf Creek ski area and 17 at
Durango Mountain Resort. "We've been waiting for a big storm to hit, so
this was the best early Christmas present," Durango Mountain Resort
spokeswoman Loryn Kasten said. Winter storm or blizzard warnings were
in effect for much of Nebraska, with up to 12 inches of snow expected
by Thursday morning. Rain spread across much of the rest of the Plains.
Roads around New Mexico were still snowpacked and icy Wednesday.
Numerous schools opened late or remained closed. Los Alamos National
Laboratory was closed for the day. Up to a foot of snow fell at higher
elevations of northwest and west-central New Mexico on Tuesday, and
snow and sleet closed sections of I-40 for a time across eastern New
Mexico and in the Texas Panhandle. Albuquerque International Airport
was closed for several hours Tuesday as snow covered runways. In
Denver, Chris and Erica Govea couldn't figure out what the fuss was
about. The Fresno, CA, couple were in town to celebrate their 10th
wedding anniversary, and had picked the city after seeing it on
televised Denver Broncos games. Strolling through the snow, bundled in
puffy coats and laden with shopping bags, Chris Govea said, "We thought
it was always like this."

24th-31st...In the East, a low pressure system moved through the Deep
South, which brought scattered showers and thunderstorms to the
Southeast, and rain showers to much of the rest of the region on
Monday. Severe thunderstorms brought tornadoes to Florida, and gusty
winds to Georgia and Florida. Rainfall amounts over 2 inches were
reported along the Atlantic coastline. Scattered rain showers moved
across the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys, Great Lakes, and Northeast.
Rainfall amounts were generally less than an inch. In the West, a low
pressure system pushed onshore in the Pacific Northwest. Scattered rain
and higher elevation snow showers were reported. Storm total snowfall
amounts up to 6 inches were reported in Oregon and Washington. Rain
showers continued over northern California, and heavy rainfall totals
were reported.
In the west, a powerful storm system brought snow and other wintry
weather to the Pacific Northwest and northern Rockies. This storm
dumped heavy amounts of snowfall in some areas, especially in the high
elevations on Thursday. Gallatin Gateway, Montana, reported 6 inches of
snowfall, while 8 inches fell in Rocky Boy, Montana. Rainfall also
occurred in much of the Desert Southwest, with some snowfall in the
upper elevations, and in the central Rockies. Rainfall amounts were
light to moderate, with Casa Grande, Arizona receiving .33 inches of
rain, and Tucson, Arizona reporting .18 inches. Gusty winds also took
place along the West Coast. Many areas reported 25 mph sustained winds,
with gusts over 40 mph. Inyokern, California reported the highest
sustained wind, at 44 mph, with gusts up to 55 mph.
Light to moderate snow showers have fallen over the far northern Upper
Mississippi Valley on Friday, while a wintry mix of freezing rain,
rain, and snow has affected the eastern half of the Northern Plains as
well as Eastern Wyoming and Central Colorado. Heavy snowfall over the
Central High Plains and the Central and Southern Rockies has caused the
area to be placed under a winter storm warning. Heavy rain and
thunderstorms have affected much of the Southern Plains, including
Texas, the Oklahoma Panhandle, and western Kansas, with some areas
reporting over an inch of rainfall within the hour. In the West, the
low pressure system that produced scattered showers over the lower
elevations of the Great Basin and Rockies, and moderate snow at the
higher elevations of the Rockies and eastern Great Basin, has moved
eastward, yielding fair to partly cloudy skies across the region.