Deadly winter storm spawns 19 tornadoes, causes major flooding and power outages, affecting 300 000 across Eastern U.S.
Image credit: thomasandfriends47/YouTube
Powerful winter storm that wreaked havoc across parts of Eastern U.S. on Thursday, February 6, 2020, produced 19 tornadoes, the National Weather Service (NWS) confirmed on Sunday, February 9, 2020. The storm sparked flooding and caused power outages that affected 300 000 people. Five people died in weather-related incidents.
On Friday, February 7, more than 300 000 homes and businesses were left without power as the storm caused widespread outages, with North Carolina bearing the brunt, followed by Pennsylvania, according to poweroutages.us.These were the states under high wind and winter weather advisories issued by the NWS.
On Saturday, February 8, NWS Eastern Region reported 17 twisters across the region from Thursday to Friday, February 6 to 7. "This includes 2 EF-2s, 8 EF-1s, and 7 EF-0s," the agency said.
On Sunday, two more tornadoes were confirmed, bringing the overall count to 19 and the totals by state to 8 in North Carolina, 5 in Maryland, 2 each in South Carolina and Georgia, and 1 each in Virginia and Florida.
The severe weather destroyed mobile homes in Mississippi and Alabama, sparked mudslides in Tennesee and Kentucky, and inundated communities across the Appalachian region. It also claimed at least five lives.
In North Carolina, a driver died when his vehicle hydroplaned, plunging down an embankment. In South Carolina, one unidentified driver was killed when a tree toppled onto his car in York County, according to local media.
In Knoxville, Tennessee, an unidentified man died and two others were injured when a car hydroplaned and hit a truck, according to the police in a news release.
Also in Tennessee, a teacher was killed when a tree fell on a van, which also injured four others, officials said.
For the upcoming week, the NWS warned that extremely wet conditions with heavy rain and possible flooding are expected from Texas to the southern Appalachians, as well as parts of the Ohio-Tennessee Valleys.
An extremely wet upcoming week with heavy rain and likely flooding from Texas to the southern Appalachians and parts of the Ohio/Tennessee Valleys. Back to back systems will be relentless with a possible 3 to 7 inches of rain and locally higher amounts across this extensive area. pic.twitter.com/T9pE22K2Bc
— National Weather Service (@NWS) February 9, 2020
Additional storm surveys have confirmed 2 more tornadoes across the Eastern US from the February 6-7 storms. Tornado totals by state are: NC-8, MD-5, SC-2 GA-2, VA-1, FL-1 pic.twitter.com/RebQhLqP4b
— NWS Eastern Region (@NWSEastern) February 9, 2020
After last week's storm, here are the updated 2019-2020 seasonal snowfall totals for NWS Eastern Region daily climate sites as of 5 pm Sunday evening. With the exception of parts of northern New York and New England, seasonal snowfall totals remain well below average. pic.twitter.com/LYkLknhe9X
— NWS Eastern Region (@NWSEastern) February 9, 2020
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