Storms over the US bring heavy snow, dangerous ice and a tornado in California

OMAHA, Neb. — Storms plagued areas of the United States for the first half of the weekend, with dangerous conditions including heavy snow in upstate New York, a major ice storm in the Midwest, severe weather warnings around Lake Tahoe and unusual tornado activity in central California.

The ice storm begins Friday night created treacherous driving conditions across Iowa and eastern Nebraska on Friday and into Saturday and prompted temporary closures of Interstate 80 after several cars and trucks slid off the road. In upstate New York, more than 33 inches (84 centimeters) were reported near Orchard Park, which is a frequent landing spot for lake-effect snow.

On Saturday, a tornado touched down near a shopping center in Scotts Valley, California, about 70 miles (110 kilometers) south of San Francisco, around 1:40 p.m. The tornado overturned cars and toppled trees and utility poles, the National Weather Service said. The Scotts Valley Police Department said several people were injured and taken to hospitals.

Some trees fell on cars and streets and damaged roofs in San Francisco. The damage was being assessed to determine if the city was actually hit by a tornado, which had not occurred since 2005, according to the weather service.

Roger Gass, a meteorologist at the weather service’s office in Monterey, Calif., said the warning of a possible tornado in San Francisco was a first for the city, noting that an advanced alert didn’t go off until the last tornado hit nearly 20 years ago since.

“I would guess there wasn’t a clear signature on the radar for a warning in 2005,” said Gass, who was not there at the time.

The fast-moving storm prompted warnings for residents to seek shelter, but few people have basements in the area.

“The biggest thing we tell people in the city is to put as many walls between you and the outside as possible,” said meteorologist Dalton Behringer.

More than a foot (30 centimeters) of snow fell at some ski resorts in Lake Tahoe, and a wind gust of 112 mph (181 km/h) was recorded at the Mammoth Mountain resort south of Yosemite National Park, according to the weather service’s office in Reno, Nevada. Up to 3 feet (91 centimeters) of snow was forecast for Sierra Nevada mountain peaks.

The Tahoe Live music festival at the Palisades Tahoe ski resort in California was expected to go ahead as planned Saturday and Sunday despite a winter storm warning for the area. Lil Wayne was scheduled to perform Saturday night, with Diplo headlining on Sunday, the festival’s website said.

A winter storm warning was set to expire at 10 p.m. Saturday, but an avalanche warning remained in effect through the following night for elevations above 8,000 feet (about 2,400 meters) around Tahoe.

Interstate 80 was closed along an 80-mile (130-kilometer) stretch from Applegate, Calif., to the Nevada line just west of Reno on Saturday. The California Highway Patrol reopened the road in the afternoon to passenger vehicles with chains or four-wheel drive and snow tires.

The severe weather in the Midwest resulted in at least one death. The Washington County Sheriff’s office in Nebraska said a 57-year-old woman died after she lost control of her pickup truck on Highway 30 near Arlington and hit an oncoming truck. The other driver sustained minor injuries.

Businesses announced plans to open late Saturday as temperatures rose high enough in the afternoon to melt the ice in most places.

“Fortunately, some warmer air is moving in behind this to make it temporary,” said Dave Cousins, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s office in Davenport, Iowa.

Tens of thousands of people in western Washington state lost power Saturday as the system delivered rain and gusty winds, local news media reported.

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Associated Press reporters Olga R. Rodriguez in San Francisco, Julie Walker in New York, Becky Bohrer in Juneau, Alaska and Scott Sonner in Reno, Nevada contributed.