More than 640,000 people were left without power on Monday due to the strong winds caused by Winter Storm Quiana. The winds also caused whiteout conditions that led to multiple vehicle accidents and at least one death.
Over 178,000 homes and businesses were left without power as of Tuesday morning in Pennsylvania according to poweroutage.us. Multiple other States also have major power outages as reported below.
These numbers grew from Monday morning in most states indicating the power suppliers are having a hard time keeping up with the repairs. The high winds from Winter Storm Quiana were the cause of many of the outages.
Between Sunday and Monday, over 1,700 flights were canceled across the United States leaving travelers with an unexpected change of plans. Aside from flights, whiteout conditions led to multiple accidents, road closures, and a few reported deaths.
The Minnesota Highway Patrol reported 165 vehicle crashes, 404 single-car incidents including slide-offs and spinouts, as well as, seven tractor-trailer jackknifes. One person died in Wisconsin and 71 other people were injured in a multi-vehicle pileup on Interstate 41 that involved 131 vehicles. An additional 500 vehicles were struck behind the first pileup. The interstate reopened around 3 a.m. on Monday.
Many interstates closed down including Interstate 35 from Ames, Iowa to Owatonna, Minnesota and Interstate 29 from Grand Forks, North Dakota to the Canadian border. These interstates are now open after dozens of motorists spun out causing the closures.
A state of emergency was called in Minnesota by Governor Tim Walz in Freeborn and Steele counties. This allowed the National Guard to aid with transporting about 50 stranded motorists to the National Guard Armory in Albert Lea.
Quiana also brought record-breaking snowfall to Flagstaff, Arizona. On Thursday alone Flagstaff received over 35 inches of snow breaking the snowiest day on record in history. Between Wednesday and Friday, they received a total of just over 40 inches of snow. This caused many road closures, school closing, and travel delays. Prescott and Flagstaff both declared a State of Emergency.
Many residents are thrilled with the snowfall in Arizona as it is expected to help the drought situation, on top of getting a rare few days of snowball throwing and sledding!
