A storm that stirred up tornadoes in the South on Thursday trekked up through the Northeast on Friday morning, bringing a wintry mix and gusty winds and making the morning commute hazardous in some areas.
Gusty winds are forecast throughout the morning across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, but they will ease by the afternoon.
“A strong winter storm will gradually be exiting the Northeast this morning, but not before some light snowfall accumulations and some light icing from freezing rain occurs across portions of northern New England,” according to the Weather Prediction Center.
Midwest cities including Cleveland are under winter storm warnings for snow and ice until Friday morning.
The storm’s impact was already felt in the South Thursday when two tornadoes touched down about 30 miles north of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, the weather service confirmed. Trees were downed on roadways and structural damage was reported. A third tornado was reported in Pell City, east of Birmingham.
A couple was trapped in a mobile home when a tree fell on it in Leeds, Alabama, a town east of Birmingham, CNN affiliate WVTM said. No serious injuries were reported.
More damage was seen in Fairfield, Alabama, where the roof of a BP gas station appeared to have blown over, and gas pumps were bent, the outlet added.
And in Illinois, more than 100 cars were involved in crashes Thursday on Interstate 39 when the area experienced heavy snow and reduced visibility.
On Friday morning, almost 180,000 homes and businesses across Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New York, Massachusetts, and Maryland were in the dark, according to PowerOutages.us.
Strong thunderstorms and snow could also affect several major airports. More than 300 Friday flights are listed as canceled, according to the tracking website FlightAware.
The Storm’s Path
The storm hit a large swath of the United States before moving out of the northeast Friday.
In Buffalo, New York, as much as 5 inches of snow may pile up, with ice ranging from one-tenth to two-tenths of an inch, according to CNN meteorologist Rob Shackelford.
Winds may also gust as high as 35 mph. And in Montpelier, Vermont, snowfall may reach 4 inches, joined by ice up to one-tenth of an inch, he said.
