LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Strong winds have fueled multiple wildfires across a wide stretch of Nebraska’s rangeland and grasslands, leading to one death in Arthur County, officials said. Authorities have not yet identified the victim, and the sheriff’s office has not released additional details.
What state officials call the Morrill County fire has already burned at least 735 square miles (about 1,880 square kilometers) across four counties. According to the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency, the fires have destroyed at least 12 structures.
Chelle Ladely of Sidney said her home remains safe for now, located about 40 miles (64 kilometers) south of the nearest fire. Still, she worries about friends and relatives in the region.
“Smoke is filling the air, and at night I can see the burn of the fires on the horizon,” Ladely said. “My father is a crop agronomist, and his company as well as other local farmers are all gathering their water trucks to help aid with the fires, and truckloads of bottled water and food is being supplied by our good patrons for our volunteer firemen trying to extinguish the blazes.”
Several additional wildfires, pushed by winds reaching up to 65 mph (105 kph), have burned another 225 square miles (about 580 square kilometers). By midday Saturday, the combined burned area reached nearly 938 square miles (about 2,430 square kilometers). The Nebraska Emergency Management Agency said the powerful winds have prevented firefighters from containing the blazes. Governor Jim Pillen toured areas damaged by the Morrill County fire.
Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of people lost power Saturday as strong winds swept eastward from the Great Lakes region, toppling trees and causing significant property damage. Farther west, at least one person died in the massive wind-driven wildfire in Nebraska.
About 346,000 customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Michigan were still without electricity by late afternoon, according to PowerOutage.us, which monitors outages nationwide.
A wind gust of 66 mph (106 kph) recorded Friday at Pittsburgh International Airport ranked as the fourth-strongest on record there not caused by a thunderstorm, according to the National Weather Service. Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport recorded winds reaching 85 mph (137 km/h) that afternoon.
The strong winds tore down a gas station canopy in New Franklin, Ohio, and knocked over an auto parts store sign in Baldwin, Pennsylvania. Trees and branches fell onto homes and vehicles from Cleveland to Pittsburgh. In Niles, Illinois, wind severely damaged the roof of a school building.
In Chicago, thousands of people still gathered to watch the city’s river turn bright green and attend a downtown parade celebrating the St. Patrick’s Day holiday, despite snow threats and strong winds that pushed the feels-like temperature well below freezing.
The dangerous winds are part of a broader pattern of extreme weather across the country, including heavy rain in Hawaii, triple-digit heat expected next week in Phoenix, and a return of winter cold to the Midwest and Northeast. Chicago is forecast to see temperatures drop into the single digits Fahrenheit by Tuesday, while Minneapolis could experience lows near zero (minus 18 C).
Several cities in Minnesota have already declared snow emergencies beginning Sunday as what could be the season’s largest snowfall approaches. Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula are also expected to face the storm.
AccuWeather warned of a “potent triple-threat March megastorm” expected to impact the region from Sunday into Monday.
“It’s definitely a very active weather weekend, that’s for sure,” AccuWeather senior meteorologist John Feerick said. “It’s a highly amplified pattern, which means you get a lot of extremes. Also, not just the Lower 48, but Hawaii’s getting hit hard right now with some very heavy rain.”
Feerick added that areas along the Wisconsin–Iowa border could experience icy conditions as travel becomes dangerous across large parts of the Upper Midwest.
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