'Wild' Weather System Carrying Heat, High Winds, Snow Wreaks Havoc Across US

The US is still reeling from a bizarre weather system. It brought scorching summer temperatures three months early to California. It dumped up to two feet of snow in the Midwest. It spawned tornadoes there and in the East. And it's fueling wildfires in Nebraska.

Over 200 million people have faced extreme weather threats this week in the US. That's over half of the country. Meteorologists say the extreme weather could last for several  more days. 

“March is known to produce plenty of wild weather,” scientist Jennifer Francis told The New York Times. “But this jet stream pattern is a wacky one.” Francis is with the Woodwell Climate Research Center in Massachusetts.  

Francis and other experts say climate change is driving the weather to extremes during a month where wild weather is normal. They say climate change is spiking heat. They also say it's causing stronger downpours. It's causing more severe swings between cold and warm.   

A southwestern heat dome has pushed temperatures past 100 degrees Fahrenheit in Arizona and California. Meanwhile, much of the upper Midwest and Great Lakes region are digging out from a heavy snowstorm. It struck those regions earlier this week. High winds of between 35-60 miles per hour swept from the Plains states to the East. They propelled wildfires in Nebraska to scorch more than 1,140 square miles of the state. One of the blazes killed an 86-year-old woman in the village of Arthur. 

At least four others were killed in a heavy-wind-propelled fire in New York City. 

Meanwhile, the National Weather Service has issued extreme heat watches and warnings across much of California, marking the first time it has issued either in March anywhere in the US. 

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called it “a sign of how climate change is impacting our city,” for The Associated Press.

Reflect: How do changes in weather or climate affect your daily life, and what do you notice when those changes seem unusual or extreme?

Photo of an extreme heat warning sign in Death Valley, California, from Wikimedia Commons.