Ice storm hits Iowa, Nebraska, causes interstate closure

Winter weather disrupted both the US Midwest and California on its West Coast at the weekend.

A major ice storm created treacherous conditions on roads in Iowa and eastern Nebraska, forcing temporary closures of Interstate 80 after numerous cars and trucks slid off the road.

The storm started to set in on Friday evening, prompting the cancellation of several events and appeals from local officials for people to stay home if possible.

At least one person died in a crash caused by the icy roads. The Washington County Sheriff’s office said a 57-year-old woman was killed when she lost control of her pickup truck on Highway 30 near Arlington and hit an oncoming truck. The other driver sustained minor injuries.

By late Saturday, though, temperatures rose high enough for the ice to start to thaw.

“Luckily some warmer air is moving in behind this to make it temporary,” Dave Cousins, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s office in Davenport, Iowa, told the AP news agency.

Possible, rare tornado in San Francisco

On the West Coast in San Francisco, which is rather less accustomed to harsh winters than Iowa and Nebraska, authorities issued the first tornado warning in years on Saturday.

A storm with wind gusts of around 100 kilometers (or 60 miles) per hour prompted the alert.

Trees were felled in parts of the city and some coastal areas experienced minor flooding.

The warning went out just before 6 a.m. in the morning but was rescinded within around 20 minutes.

San Francisco has not seen a tornado since 2005, with the National Weather Service assessing damage and witness reports to see if the storm qualifies as such.

The National Weather Service said it logged a tornado not that far south of San Francisco, in Scotts Valley, later on Saturday.

“The tornado has caused extensive damage in several areas, including overturning several vehicles in and around the shopping district on Mt. Hermon Drive,” the Scotts Valley Police Deparmtent said in a statement, asking people to avoid the area.

msh/sri (AP, open sources)