2024-01-10 08:00:00
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Winter Storm Finn battered parts of the Plains and Rockies in early January before turning toward the East with severe weather, heavy rain and snow.
At least five people were killed by the storm, three in severe weather and two additional people were killed in the Midwest as wintry weather was ongoing.
Winter Storm Finn’s History
Finn is the second of at least three named winter storms to cross the Lower 48 in early January. In the NOAA loop below, you can see winter storm Ember and Finn.
Winter Storm Finn began in the Gulf of Alaska on January 5th, crashing into southern British Columbia the following day, then taking a rare southward route through Washington state and the rest of the West.
Heavy snow hit the Lake Tahoe area on Jan. 6, causing at least one pileup and whiteout conditions in the Sierra Nevada.
Finn Brings Blizzard Conditions To The Plains, Rockies
Snow fell across the Rockies on Jan. 7 as Finn began to wrap up and the storm dove southeastward toward the Southern Plains.
Snowfall surpassed a foot across several spots in the Plains, Rockies and Midwest. The biggest total from the entire storm fell at Wolf Creek Pass, which saw 21 inches of new snow. Other totals include 18 inches at the Santa Fe Ski Area in New Mexico; 17 inches of snow near Vallecito, Colorado; 15 inches near Iowa City, Iowa; 12 inches near South Lineville, Missouri; 12 inches in Muscoda, Wisconsin; 11 inches in Stanton, Nebraska, and just under 7 inches in Salina, Kansas.
Blizzard conditions with zero visibility were reported in Burlington, Colorado, and Leoti, Kansas, on Monday. Winds gusted up to 80 mph near Campo, Colorado, and 76 mph in Raton, New Mexico.
Finn has spawned whiteout conditions in six states (New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska). In the panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma, snow piled up as high as the floorboards of vehicles, winds gusted as high as 60 mph and visibility dropped to near zero. Several accidents were reported in Dimmett, Texas.
(WATCH: Blizzard Conditions Batter The TX Panhandle)
The combination of snow and wind resulted in snow drifts of 4 to 5 feet in Boise City, Oklahoma, and all roads were closed Monday afternoon.
Several reporting stations stopped reporting in western Kansas as visibility dropped as low as 15 feet. Blizzard conditions with thunder were reported in Dodge City, Kansas. U.S. routes were closed in northeastern New Mexico. Interstate 70 closed in western Kansas and Interstate 80 was closed in central Nebraska during the afternoon and evening hours.
Eight to 10 inches of snow fell near Oakley, Kansas where cars were buried and trucks skidded off roads. Snow drifts reached three feet as vehicles sat on Interstate 70 overnight on January 8th into the 9th.
The Associated Press said two deaths in the Wisconsin and Michigan were due to vehicle crashes in slushy conditions brought on by Winter Storm Finn.
Heavy snow fell on Jan. 9-10 in the interior Northeast, bringing 6-15 inches in parts of northern New York and northern New England. New Vineyard, Maine picked up 14.7 inches of snow.
Finn Intensifies, Brings Wrath of Wind and Water To East, South
Parts of Indiana saw record low January pressures on Jan. 9 as Finn moved through. Evansville, Indiana dipped to 985.7 mb.
Heavy rain and gusty winds spread through the South, and a squall line developed in Texas and Louisiana. NRG Stadium sprung a leak at the college football championship in Houston.
Severe weather ripped across the Interstate 10 corridor from San Antonio to Mobile, AL, including at least one tornado on Jan. 8, and several touching down in the Southeast on Jan. 9 as the warmth spread across the region.
One of the tornadoes, which hit the Lower Grand Lagoon near Panama City, was rated EF3. That is the strongest tornado to hit the county in more than 50 years.
Storm Reports, January 8-9, 2024
Three were killed in severe weather as Finn’s impacts reached the South: one each in Houston County, Alabama; Jonesboro, Georgia; and Claremont, North Carolina.
Damaging winds pushed through the South and East.
Parts of the mid-Atlantic and Northeast saw wind gusts spike up over 60 mph, including 94 mph in Wears Valley, Tennessee; 80 mph on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in Maryland; 78 mph at both the Watertown Airport in New York and in Jacksonville, North Carolina; 72 mph at Island Beach State Park in New Jersey; and 69 mph at the Burlington Airport in Vermont.
The Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge in Charleston shut down after a semitrailer blew over at the bridge’s peak, blocking both lanes. A wind gust of 69 mph was reported at Charleston Air Force Base at 4:15 p.m.
In North Carolina, near Cedar Island, tornadic activity was captured on at least one private station as a 102 mph wind gust.
On Jan. 9, warm air swelled northward through the eastern US, driving rain into central New England by late evening. Snow spread throughout northern New England and the Great Lakes.
The heavy rain fell on freshly fallen snow from Winter Storm Ember just days earlier. This resulted in high rivers and some damaging flooding in the Northeast.
Finn’s strong winds brought coastal flooding to the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, too. Several spots saw storm surges topple records set decades earlier, including Philadelphia.
The heavy rain also brought flooding across the Southern Appalachians to the Northeast. Gatlinburg, Tennesseesaw widespread flooding and rivers overflowed their banks across the western Carolinas. Spots in at least three states saw more than five inches of fall from Finn: Alabama, Connecticut and Rhode Island.
Rivers in Connecticut also swelled over their banks and authorities were worried about at least one dam failure.
In total, nearly 600,000 customers have lost power from New England down to Florida as a result of Winter Storm Finn’s multiple weather hazards. Nearly 1,500 flights were canceled on Jan. 9 and over 9,000 flights saw weather-related delays, according to FlightAware data. Hundreds more were delayed and canceled the following day.
The last effects of Finn were felt in Maine where storm surge pushed ashore and flooded Kennebunk. Strong waves and elevated water levels also battered the Portland, Maine, coastline.
The rain and snow finally let up for most of the Northeast on the morning on Jan. 10, as the system moved northward into Canada with surface pressures sub-980 mb. Winds took some additional time to calm down.
A person uses a snowblower to clear a sidewalk as a snowstorm hits the area on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024, in Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
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