Schools have been shut down for at least three days across Jerusalem and many government offices are closing ahead of a massive blizzard that is expected to blanket the city in snow and ice.
The Israel Defense Forces are also moving to a heightened state of alert because of the storm, sending tanks into parts of northern Israel that could face being cut off because of high snowfall on roadways.
At least 1,000 soldiers have been deployed to northern Israel and Jerusalem to assist residents during the storm. The troops will make sure that all area hospitals will remain operational if doctors and nurses cannot make it into their offices because of the storm.
The front wave of the storm brought 45 mile per hour winds to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, downing trees across the region.
Last year a similar storm left wide areas with electricity, water or road access for days. The government will be shutting down major roadways ahead of the storm to avoid having vehicles trapped on the highway as they were in December 2013.
Residents have been spending the week stocking up on basic food supplies.
A surprisingly strong storm caused over 25 tornadoes to touch down in Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Indiana according to local officials and the National Weather Service.
One twister that struck Sutton, Nebraska blew the roof off City Hall and completely destroyed at least one farm outside of the town. Police Chief Tracey Landenberger said it was so dark that you couldn’t see anything. Chief Landenberger suffered minor injuries by flying glass.
Missouri Governor Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency after a tornado destroyed or damaged up to 300 homes in Orrick, Missouri, about 30 miles east of Kansas City.
The tornadoes had to share the weather news day with a freak winter storm in the Rocky Mountains.
The National Weather Service issued multiple Winter Storm Warnings and said at one point high winds and blowing snow forced the closure of 150 miles of Interstate 80 in Wyoming.
Meteorologists say the storm is so slow moving that parts of Denver could get an additional 9 inches of accumulation during the day Monday and that higher elevations could receive well over a foot of new precipitation.
An unusually early and enormous snowstorm over the weekend caught South Dakota ranchers and farmers unprepared, killing tens of thousands of cattle and ravaging the state’s $7 billion industry — an industry left without assistance because of the federal government shutdown.
As many as 75,000 cattle have perished since the storm slammed the western part of the state Thursday through Saturday with snowfall that set records for the entire month of October in just three days, state and industry officials said.
Across the state, snow totals averaged 30 inches, with some isolated areas recording almost 5 feet, The Weather Channel reported.
The South Dakota Stock Growers Association estimated that 15 percent to 20 percent of all cattle were killed in some parts of the state. Some ranchers reported that they lost half or more of their herds.
Source: NBC News – NBC News: Shutdown worsens historic blizzard that killed tens of thousands of South Dakota cattle
