Brutal winter weather enveloped much of the US on Tuesday and was forecast to continue through the week in areas, with forecasters predicting heavy rains in the east and several feet of snow for parts of the Pacific northwest.
High winds and a few tornadoes ripped through parts of the South earlier Tuesday, with at least three deaths attributed to the weather in Alabama, North Carolina and Georgia, according to authorities and local media reports. Tornadoes caused heavy damage in parts of the Florida panhandle.
Heavy rains and high winds hit a big chunk of the East Coast on Tuesday and will continue into Wednesday, the National Weather Service (NWS) said.
Three or more inches of rain was forecast for a wide swath of the northeast, where some areas were hit with heavy snows last weekend, increasing the risk of significant flooding.
The extreme weather follows a record number of “billion-dollar” disasters in the US last year.
Storms had knocked out power to over 418,000 homes and businesses in 12 states on Tuesday.
