Approximately 315,000 people were without power on Sunday morning after powerful winds hit the Midwest and Northeast, downing power lines and toppling trees.
High wind advisories were in place across a swath of the country from Ohio to Maine, and southern Illinois, while most of Kentucky and a large part of Tennessee were warned about freezing temperatures as a trough of northern air dipped south, forecasters said.
The most significant power outages were in Pennsylvania, where about 84,000 customers were without power. Meanwhile about 62,000 were without power in Virginia, 40,000 in New Jersey, 34,000 in Indiana and 23,000 in New York.
Two rounds of snow were expected in the Upper Midwest, Great Lakes and Northeast, The Weather Channel reported.
Eight inches of snow was recorded near Negaunee in northwestern Michigan, just over 7 inches fell in Wisconsin near Twin Lakes, and 5.5 inches of snow was seen in Minnesota near Leonidas Saturday as the storm swept through, according to The Weather Channel. Parts of Western Pennsylvania could see 8 to 10 inches.
Around 4 to 6 inches of snow could fall in parts of upstate New York to parts of Massachusetts near Boston, and much Connecticut could see 1 to 3 inches, forecasters said.
"Getting snow in April in the Northeast is not that unusual — the unusual part is not the amount of snow, but more of the cold and the wind that’s coming along with it tonight and tomorrow,” Weather Channel lead forecaster Michael Palmer said Saturday. “Wind gusts of 50, 60 miles an hour, plus.”
New York City was under a high wind warning late Saturday until 2 p.m. Sunday. The National Weather Service said there was a potential for damaging winds of 25 to 30 mph, and with gusts of up to 60 mph.
Much of the Northeast could see temperatures in the 20s and 30s, which is 10 to 20 degrees below average, Palmer said.
A wind gust of 62 mph was recorded at Dayton International Airport in Ohio, the National Weather Service said, and a roof over some gas pumps at a Shell station was toppled.
In Shelby, Ohio, a semitrailer was overturned in high winds, the NWS reported. And Cincinnati, a tree was sent crashing into a home right where a third-floor apartment had been rented out — the tenant was away at the time, NBC station WLWT reported. Another resident had a close call when a tree was sent crashing down.
“Fortunately it missed the house, but [it was a] perfectly healthy tree,” Kevin Flaherty said. “Like all the trees right now whipping around and this one split in half and fell on a car.”
And in Indiana, a Chipotle restaurant sign fell during gusting winds and crushed a car below. To the amazement of bystanders, no one was seriously hurt, NBC station WTHR in Indianapolis reported.
"By the time I could even react and stop my truck, a second later, I see a guy getting out of that car," Peter Courtney told the station. The driver, who was slightly injured, said he was reaching down for something when the sign fell, Courtney told the station.
"If he wasn't doing that — that's what saved him," Courtney said.
