BELLEMONT, Ariz. — A winter storm pummeled the western U.S. on Thursday with fierce wind gusts, heavy rain and more than 2 feet of snow, closing freeways, forcing people from their homes in a California town and dumping a snowy mix of precipitation on the edges of Phoenix.
Officials closed a road into Yosemite National Park in California after a rock the size of a dump truck tumbled onto the road. Strong winds created snow dunes on rooftops and in front yards and streets across mountainous areas of Arizona.
Snow and ice forced an hours-long closure of the two major thoroughfares in northern Arizona, stranding motorists south of Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon. People in Phoenix were stunned at the sight of snow-type flurries that the National Weather Service said were a combination of hail and snow that melts before it hits the ground.
“Believe it or not, but I am looking out my window in Scottsdale, Az & its SNOWING! Never thought I would see this!” former Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner tweeted.
Dorothy Brooks of Dallas was creeping along Interstate 40 at 20 mph on Thursday on her way to Las Vegas, passing vehicles stuck on the side of the road, when she pulled into a Bellemont, Nev., gas station to wait out the storm.
“It’s devastating,” she said above the cry of a 9-month-old baby she was pushing through the aisles. “You can’t call Mother Nature anyway. You never know when she’s going to burst out.”
Major highways were shut down in parts of Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and Nevada.
Phoenix was bracing for freezing overnight temperatures, a rarity in the desert city. Inmates housed at the city’s Tent City jail facility were being issued extra blankets and pink thermal underwear — part of Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s odd method for punishing prisoners.
Winter weather on a rampage
Arizona: Snow and ice forced an hours-long closure of the two major thoroughfares in the north. Phoenix got snow-type flurries that the National Weather Service said were a combination of hail and snow.
New Mexico: The southwestern part of the state was being hit with blizzard conditions that were forecast to continue through midnight Thursday. Winds of up to 65 mph, heavy snow and falling temperatures made travel difficult if not impossible, forecasters said.
California: The Highway Patrol reported downed trees in the Los Angeles area. One gust north of Los Angeles was clocked at 94 mph. An overflowing irrigation canal in Lamont, about 75 miles north of Los Angeles, forced the evacuation of 120 homes.
Idaho: A camping Boy Scout troop had to be rescued after a snowstorm stranded them near Pocatello. The seven boys and three adults had planned to spend Tuesday night at Lariat Cave but were unable to get out, said Power County Sheriff Jim Jeffries. The Associated Press
