13 dead, half a million in dark from massive winter storm

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Almost half a million Americans from Kentucky to Michigan were in the dark Sunday after a massive front dumped heavy snow across much of the nation's northern tier and slammed parts of the South with powerful thunderstorms and tornadoes.

At least 13 deaths were reported from the storm, which began by dumping several feet of snow in California's mountains and pushing east, AccuWeather said.

Five deaths were confirmed in Kentucky as wind gusts surpassing 70 mph downed trees and power lines and damaged homes and other buildings, Gov. Andy Beshear said. Power crews in Louisville and around the state labored Sunday after Friday's high-speed wind storm turned off the lights for hundreds of thousands of Kentucky residents.

The system spawned straight-line winds, possible tornadoes and powerful thunderstorms in parts of the South. More than 224,000 homes and businesses were without power Sunday in Kentucky, according to the tracking website poweroutage.us. An additional 117,000 were dark in Michigan, 36,000 in Tennessee. Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia also were struggling with outages.

Developments:

►Deaths were also reported in Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi, and Tennessee.

►More than a foot of snow fell in parts of New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.

Silver lining for stormy California

California's mountains are expected to get more snow Monday, and the state's drought recovery already has been "phenomenal" this winter, weatherbug.com reports. The average water equivalent in the snowpack in California's mountains range from 40 to 46 inches – almost double the average for early March, the website says. For the first time in years, less than half the state's land area is in moderate drought or worse.

"The real estate covered in the moderate to exceptional drought has dropped 50%, from 99.48% in early December to 49.13% in the latest report on Thursday," weatherbug reported.

Beshear visits hard-hit McCracken County

Heavy rainfall amounts up to 4.5 inches Friday produced widespread flash flooding with numerous road closures. Soggy ground from excessive rainfall likely contributed to some trees being more susceptible to being blown over, the National Weather Service said.

“The damage from this event is as widespread as any natural disaster I have ever seen in Kentucky co-op history,” said Chris Perry, president of Kentucky Electric Cooperatives.

Beshear and Louisville Gas & Electric spokesperson Liz Pratt each described efforts to restore power as a "multi-day" process. Pratt said LG&E would prioritize restoring power to essential locations such as hospitals and nursing homes but would work to turn the lights back on across the city as quickly as possible. She said the outages were the worst since an ice storm in 2009. 

Beshear said he would visit McCracken County, 200 miles southwest of Louisville, on Sunday to speak with families and survey some of the damage.

"Just like every other challenge we've been through, we'll do this together," Beshear said on Twitter. "And we will be there until every structure and life is rebuilt."

Heavy snow, high winds, hazardous roads in Northeast

Driving conditions across the Northeast were hazardous as dozens of cars, trucks and tractor-trailers slid off roads, authorities said. #Thundersnow was trending on Twitter as many areas experienced thunder and lightning during the snowstorm. The weather event, caused when a mass of cold air forms on top of warm air, is rare because the upward convection motion of air that helps produce thunderstorms is uncommon in winter.

Parts of the Northeast already saddled with up to a foot of snow could experience another dose Monday as a new storm tracks eastward, forecasters warned.

"From southeast Ontario (Canada) into the southern tier of New York, a narrow band of a few inches or more of snow is possible," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Adam Douty said.

WHAT IS THUNDERSNOW?:Explaining how a thunderstorm can produce snow

Crews rescue people stranded in California mountains

Search crews have rescued several Californians stranded in the state’s mountain communities. Some residents in the mountains east of Los Angeles will likely remain trapped in their homes for at least another week after the snowfall proved too much to handle for most plows, authorities said. Cars are completely buried, and snow is piled up to the roof of some homes.

Katy Curtis, who lives in the San Bernardino mountain community of Crestline, said she hiked with snowshoes for 5 miles to get a can of gasoline to a family trapped in their house to fuel a generator.

“I’m healthy, so I just thought, well, I can walk, and I did. But it was probably the longest day of my life,” she said. “We’re just all so exhausted in every way."

Contributing: Robert Bell, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle; The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Winter storm live updates: Half a million people without power