Dec 29, 2008 7:50 pm US/Eastern
Wicked Winter Setting Records Already
(CBS News)
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Snow falls in downtown Seattle on Dec. 21, 2008. (File)
AP
Barely one week in, winter is quickly wearing out its welcome, reports CBS News correspondent Cynthia Bowers, especially in the Pacific Northwest, which got battered again Monday with heavy snow, rain and high winds.
In Spokane, Wash., a record 51.5-inches of snow has fallen so far this month.
In parts of Iowa and Illinois families shoveling snow on Christmas Eve were sandbagging over the weekend, to hold back rivers swollen by heavy rains and melting ice, Bowers reports.
Utilities in Michigan scrambled Monday to restore power knocked out by a gusty weekend storm as rain and melting snow caused flooding there and in other parts of the Midwest.
About 177,000 customers were without electricity in Michigan, down from more than 400,000 on Sunday, according to the state's utilities. Some could remain without power until Wednesday because of Sunday's storm, which carried winds gusting more than 60 mph.
Flood warnings were posted throughout the Midwest as temperatures rose after a week of heavy snowfall. Forecasters said flooding was possible in areas of Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and northwest Ohio.
In Michigan, roads in some Ottawa County subdivisions were under 2 to 3 feet of water, while the first floors of some homes were flooded, National Weather Service hydrologist Mark Walton said.
In southeastern Wisconsin, the National Weather Service predicted the Fox River would crest about a foot over flood stage Tuesday in the town of Wheatland. In northwest Missouri, the Grand River reached nearly 9 feet above flood stage in places over the weekend.
Winter storm warnings were issued throughout the Northwest, which has been hammered by storms in recent weeks. The National Weather Service said northeastern Washington and the Idaho panhandle could expect 3 to 7 inches of new snow in the valleys, and 6 to 10 inches in the mountains through Monday evening.
Spokane, Wash., already had received upward of 51 inches of snow this month - more than it sees in a typical winter - but it kept falling Monday, accompanied by winds that gusted to 35 mph.
Roads were so clogged in the city that Spokane police asked semi-truck drivers to use chains after several trucks became stuck in giant snowbanks. Black ice was also causing many accidents on Interstate 90, officials said.
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