Sustainability Climate Change

Winter storms slam western US as south experiences ‘unusually warm temperatures’

by Alejandra O'Connell-Domenech | Dec. 27, 2021 | Dec. 27, 2021

A pedestrian carries an umbrella while looking toward the skyline from Dolores Park in San Francisco, Monday, Dec. 13, 2021. A major winter storm hitting Northern California is expected to intensify and bring travel headaches and a threat of localized flooding after an abnormally warm fall in the U.S. West. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Story at a glance

  • A Christmas weekend winter storm has blanket parts of the Western United States in snow.
  • The storm has left thousands in California, Washington and Alaska without power.
  • The storm comes as many parts of the southern United States reported record-breaking warm temperatures this Christmas.

While parts of the Southern United States reported record warm temperatures this holiday season, some Western states received a surprise white Christmas.

Snow started to hit parts of the Pacific Northwest Saturday afternoon prompting the National Weather Service warning western Washington residents of “snowy, difficult travel.” 

Snowfall caused problems at the Seattle-Tacoma airport which had to cancel about 27 percent of its flights on Sunday and reported that another 39 percent were delayed, according to USA TODAY. 

The snow left thousands in California without power and forced some mountain highways to close, according to Axios, with about 70 miles of Interstate 80 in the western part of the state closed through the rest of Monday. 

In addition, the storm has left 13,000 people in Alaska and another 5,000 in Washington state without power. 

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The storm pummeled parts of Nevada, blanketing it with snow and causing Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) to close all state government offices through Monday. 

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