Jett Made Cross Country Trek Before Reaching Northeast As Bomb Cyclone (RECAP)

Where To Watch For Rounds Of Snow And Ice

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A cross-country winter storm caused a myriad of weather hazards as it moved eastward from the West Coast through the Rocky Mountains and into the Great Plains before intensifying into a bomb cyclone as it approached the Northeast.

T​he storm reached bomb cyclone status after the central pressure dropped from 992 mb to 968 mb in 24 hours (from early Feb. 16 to early Feb. 17).

The system was named Winter Storm Jett by The Weather Channel.

(​MORE: Why Winter Storms Are Named)

Jett's Snowfall Footprint

J​ett started on the West Coast, dumping up to 38 inches of snow in California's Sierra, 1 to 4 inches of snow in the Portland, Oregon, metro area, and up to around a foot of snow in the Southern California mountains, Utah's Wasatch and the high country of Colorado.

Generally light snowfall totals less than 6 inches were reported in parts of the upper Midwest. As much as 7.3 inches of snow fell near western Lake Superior in northern Wisconsin.

Parts of the Interior Northeast and the Great Lakes received up to a foot of snow, especially in regions where the lake-effect snow machine kicked into gear, and whiteout conditions were reported in Upstate New York. Heavy snow is also being pointed at as a potential contributing factor to the collapse of a building in Massachusetts after 5 to 6 inches of snow fell from Winter Storm Jett in the region.

Weather is also part of the ongoing investigation into what caused a Delta plane to flip over and catch on fire as it landed at Toronto Pearson International Airport, according to aviation experts.

F​looding, Severe Weather

Most of those deaths occurred in Kentucky, with an official death toll reaching 15 according to an update from the state's governor, Andy Beshear.

More than 300 roads were closed across Kentucky due to flooding and landslides. Gov. Beshear and other state safety officials urged people to stay off the roads. He said swift-water teams had rescued more than 1,000 people. Beshear added that evacuations were continuing and President Donald Trump approved his request for an emergency disaster declaration for the state.

As much as six inches of rain fell and all 120 counties in the state were impacted, said state officials. Many of those areas were facing a fresh round of snow in the days following from Winter Storm Kingston, worsening road conditions and making rescues and evacuations even more challenging.

In Tennessee, a flash flood emergency was issued Sunday afternoon in Obion County after a levee near the town of Rives, along the Obion River failed, triggering catastrophic flooding. The National Weather Service urged people in the area to get to higher ground immediately, warning that it was a life-threatening situation.

About 200 residents needed to be rescued, according to the Tipton County Fire Department, which sent a swift-water team to assist with rescues.

Tornadoes were also reported across the Deep South from Louisiana to Tennessee and Georgia. In Atlanta, Georgia, a man was killed when a tree fell on a home early Sunday.

Powerful winds accompanying the storm hit areas already saturated by heavy rain and flash flooding, causing power outages to surge. By Sunday morning, February 16, more than 220,000 homes and businesses were without power in Georgia. In Alabama, nearly 160,000 customers had no electricity.

Sara Tonks is a content meteorologist with weather.com and has a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from Georgia Tech in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences along with a master’s degree from Unity Environmental University in Marine Science.