High winds cut power to Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan; Nebraska wildfire kills

In a broad swath of the central and upper Midwest, a late-season weather system driven by high winds left power infrastructure damaged and conditions dangerous as crews responded on Saturday, according to the Associated Press. The disruptions began with strong winds raking eastward from the Great Lakes region, toppling trees and causing substantial property damage in multiple states, before the system’s effects spread farther west into Nebraska.

The AP reported that PowerOutage.us, which tracks outages nationwide, showed about 346,000 customers still without electricity in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan as of the late afternoon Saturday. The outages followed wind impacts that included fallen trees and limbs reaching homes and vehicles from Cleveland to Pittsburgh, along with damage to commercial structures such as a gas station canopy in New Franklin, Ohio, and an auto parts store sign in Baldwin, Pennsylvania.

The wind measurements cited by the AP included a 66 mph (106 kph) gust at Pittsburgh International Airport on Friday, which the National Weather Service said was that airport’s fourth-strongest on record not caused by a thunderstorm. The AP also reported that Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport saw winds hit 85 mph (137 km) that afternoon.

As the wind moved through the region, the AP described additional damage tied to gusts, including trees falling into or onto homes and cars and damage to a school building in the Chicago suburb of Niles, Illinois. High winds also contributed to wildfire conditions across Nebraska, where multiple blazes were fueled and spread by fast-moving weather, officials said.

In Nebraska, officials told the AP that at least one person died in a massive wind-driven wildfire in Arthur County. The sheriff’s office did not identify the victim immediately, and did not disclose additional details, according to the report.

The AP said a wildfire state officials dubbed the Morrill County fire had burned at least 735 square miles (about 1,880 square kilometers) across four counties. The Nebraska Emergency Management Agency said at least 12 structures had been destroyed by midday Saturday, while other wildfires pushed by winds of up to 65 mph (105 kph) burned an additional 225 square miles (about 580 square kilometers), bringing the combined total to nearly 938 square miles (about 2,430 square kilometers) by that point.

The AP included on-the-ground concerns from Sidney resident Chelle Ladely, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) south of the nearest fire. Ladely said, “Smoke is filling the air, and at night I can see the burn of the fires on the horizon,” adding that farmers and local support were gathering resources including water trucks and supplies for volunteer firefighters trying to extinguish the blazes.

Governor Jim Pillen toured areas burned by the Morrill County fire, the AP reported, while the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency said the strong winds had kept firefighters from containing any of the fires. The report also described how the wider storm system touched multiple states and types of weather, with dangerous conditions stretching beyond the wind damage and wildfire response.

Meanwhile, in Chicago, the AP reported that thousands of revelers attended St. Patrick’s Day events—including the city’s river dyed bright green and a downtown parade—despite forecasts of snow and stiff winds that pushed the “feels-like” temperature well below freezing. Beyond the Midwest, the report said the weather mosaic also included heavy rains in Hawaii, triple-digit heat expected next week in Phoenix, and a return of winter cold to the Midwest and Northeast, with Chicago forecast to approach the single digits Fahrenheit by Tuesday and Minneapolis seeing lows around zero (minus 18 C).

Several Minnesota cities declared snow emergencies beginning Sunday, the AP reported, and it said Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula were also in the crosshairs. AccuWeather warned of a “potent triple-threat March megastorm” from Sunday into Monday, and senior meteorologist John Feerick told the AP: “It’s definitely a very active weather weekend, that’s for sure,” explaining that the pattern was highly amplified and bringing multiple extremes across the Lower 48, with Hawaii receiving heavy rain as well. Feerick also said people along the Wisconsin-Iowa border might see ice as travel conditions become dangerous across parts of the Upper Midwest.