Powerful winter storm continues to slam much of US, while some parts experience record heat

Washington, Feb 24

A massive winter storm with heavy snow, rain and powerful winds has continued to hit much of the US, triggering major power outages, flight cancellations and road closures, while some regions in the south were experiencing record-high heat.

More than 995,000 people were without power in five states on Thursday, including more than 772,000 in Michigan, according to poweroutage.us.

More than 24 million people across more than two dozen states were under blizzard, winter storm, wind chill and freeze warnings Thursday, Xinhua news agency quoted the National Weather Service (NWS) as saying.

Another 49 million people faced winter weather, wind chill and frost advisories.

For the first time in 34 years, the NWS issued a blizzard warning for Southern California mountains through Saturday.

Snow levels could descend to below 1,000 feet elevation as extreme anomalous cold at high altitudes whips up a serious elevation storm.

"An unusually cold and slow-moving winter storm to bring very heavy snowfall and strong winds to California and adjacent areas of the West through Friday and into the start of the weekend," said the latest weather prediction of the NWS on Thursday.

The prolonged winter storm yielded significant impacts from the West through the Midwest and into the Great Lakes region.

While heavy snow and strong winds will tend to dominate the headlines for this winter storm, one other major concern will be the threat of heavy rainfall and flooding for some of the immediate coastal ranges of southern California below the snow level, according to the NWS.

Heavy rainfall and flooding will be possible for parts of southern California, according to weather forecast.

The powerful storm had promoted delay or cancellation of more than 7,600 flights at airports across the US on Wednesday.

Blizzards in the Dakotas, Minnesota and Wisconsin have forced many schools and businesses to close.

While snow and ice continue to slam much of the country, southern regions are experiencing record-high heat.

The heat on Wednesday in some cities in states as Kentucky and Tennessee shattered records stretching back more than a century.