Town of Weed, California, Takes Stock After Wind-Driven Wildfire
By Associated Press ••
NBC Bay Area’s Jodi Hernandez shows the recovery efforts underway in Weed after a wind-driven wildfire destroyed homes and forced evacuations.
They had prepared for wildfires and knew of the drought-parched forests, but the inferno that swirled through the California lumber town of Weed moved so quickly all people could do was flee.
In just a few hours, wind-driven flames destroyed or damaged 150 structures, a saw mill and a church. At times, the fire moved so fast that residents had only a few minutes to get out of the way.
On Tuesday, the "Weed Like To Welcome You" town sign still stood, but nothing else was normal as stunned residents assessed the damage, took stock of what they lost and gave thanks for what was saved.
Jodi Hernandez
Remnants of the wildfire that tore through Weed, California, photographed by NBC Bay Area’s Jodi Hernandez, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2014.
Jodi Hernandez
Remnants of the wildfire that tore through Weed, California, photographed by NBC Bay Area’s Jodi Hernandez, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2014.
AP
A firefighter hoses down smoking rubble, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2014, inside the foundation of a home destoyed by a wildfire in Weed, Calif. The fire moved quickly after igniting Monday afternoon in brush and trees, destroying about 100 structures, the library, some mill buildings, and damaging the elementary school. (AP Photo/Jeff Barnard)
Jodi Hernandez
Firefighters putting out hotspots in what's left of people's homes in Weed, California, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2014.
Jodi Hernandez
Remnants of the wildfire that tore through Weed, California, photographed by NBC Bay Area’s Jodi Hernandez, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2014.
AP
Apples hang on a tree, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2014, next to a home destroyed by a wind-driven wildfire in Weed, Calif. An estimated 100 structures were burned in the blaze. (AP Photo/Jeff Barnard)
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A bathtub is seen painted pink with fire retardant, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2014, in the rubble of a home destroyed by a wildfire in Weed, Calif. The fast-moving fire leveled approximately 100 structures. (AP Photo/Jeff Barnard)
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Maya Stevens carries bags of possessions from her home, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2014, that was spared when a fire burned through her neighborhood in Weed, Calif. In just a few hours Monday, wind-driven flames destroyed or damaged roughly 100 homes, the saw mill and a church. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
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The burned shell of a car destroyed by a fire sits in Weed, Calif., Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2014. In just a few hours Monday, wind-driven flames destroyed or damaged roughly 100 homes, the saw mill and a church. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
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The burned remains of a home destroyed by a fire sit overlooking Weed, Calif., Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2014. In just a few hours Monday, wind-driven flames destroyed or damaged roughly 100 homes, the saw mill and a church. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
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Kate Stonecypher, 22, walks through the burned remains of the garage of her home. Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2014, that was destroyed by the Boles Fire, in Weed, Calif. The fire swept through the area Monday destroying more than 100 buildings, including two churches and burning more than 300 acres. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
AP
Kate Stonecypher, 22, walks through the burned remains of her home, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2014, that was destroyed by the Boles Fire, in Weed, Calif. The fire swept through the area Monday destroying more than 100 buildings, including two churches and burning more than 300 acres. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
Mercedes Castillo
Children were evacuated from the Weed Elementary School in Weed, Calif., in front of a sky filled with smoke from a nearby wildfire on Monday. The wind-whipped wildfire laid siege to Weed, a California town at the foot of Mount Shasta, destroying a church, damaging or leveling 100 homes and forcing authorities to order about half the people to leave.
Cal OES
A destroyed vehicle and home due to intense and fast-moving Boles Fire, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2014.
Jodi Hernandez
Home after home destroyed in Weed, California, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2014.
Jodi Hernandez
Remnants of the wildfire that tore through Weed, California, photographed by NBC Bay Area’s Jodi Hernandez, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2014.
Jodi Hernandez
Remnants of the wildfire that tore through Weed, California, photographed by NBC Bay Area’s Jodi Hernandez, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2014.
Jodi Hernandez
Remnants of the wildfire that tore through Weed, California, photographed by NBC Bay Area’s Jodi Hernandez, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2014.
Jodi Hernandez
Remnants of the wildfire that tore through Weed, California, photographed by NBC Bay Area’s Jodi Hernandez, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2014.
Jodi Hernandez
Remnants of the wildfire that tore through Weed, California, photographed by NBC Bay Area’s Jodi Hernandez, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2014.
Jodi Hernandez
Remnants of the wildfire that tore through Weed, California, photographed by NBC Bay Area’s Jodi Hernandez, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2014.
Jodi Hernandez
Remnants of the wildfire that tore through Weed, California, photographed by NBC Bay Area’s Jodi Hernandez, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2014.
Jodi Hernandez
Remnants of the wildfire that tore through Weed, California, photographed by NBC Bay Area’s Jodi Hernandez, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2014.
"At the peak, essentially the entire town was evacuated," state fire spokesman Robert Foxworthy said.
Disastrous as the fire was for the community of 3,000 people, daybreak brought gratitude and relief that there were no reports of death or even serious injuries.
The intense blaze erupted Monday south of Weed. Elsewhere in the state, hundreds of firefighters battled about a dozen other persistent blazes.
Winds gusting up to 40 mph pushed the flames into town, where they quickly chewed through a hillside neighborhood. Officials said a significant number of the structures burned were houses; three firefighters lost their homes in the blaze. The cause is still under investigation.
"It went through here so fast it was unbelievable. I've never seen anything like this," Jim Taylor, a retired butcher who has lived in the town for 30 years said Tuesday. "I'm not a real religious person, but somebody was looking out for me."
Taylor said fire bombers dropped retardant over his house. As his home and his deck furniture turned pink from the retardant, another house nearby erupted into flames. Across the street, pine and oak trees were burned to a crisp, and small flames and smoke drifted up from chunky embers.
The town and the forest that surrounds it were a tinderbox after three years of drought. And Weed's winds are notorious. The steady breezes were what attracted town founder Abner Weed to build his lumber business there in 1897, after he realized that wood dried more quickly when fanned by nature.
The town's saw mill, once the world's largest, was among the structures damaged in the blaze.
"Once the fire kicked off, you had wind driving it from the south. It got into the crowns of trees, and then it was moving extremely quickly from structure to structure, block to block," said Dennis Mathisen, another state fire spokesman.
On Tuesday, chimneys were the only thing still standing in the rubble, and broken pipes spurted water over the blackened landscape. The remnants of the Holy Family Catholic Church were still smoldering, its metal girders twisted on the ground.
"I mean it was devastating," said Maureen Campbell, the church's music minister who was baptized, confirmed and married at the church, along with her children. She lost her home to the fire.
"The house up there is no big deal. It can be rebuilt," she said. "But this is my family church, you know? It's much more endearing to me."
Tasha Davis said she was given two minutes to grab what she could from her apartment and evacuate.
"We then packed my car and sat on the road and just watched everything burn," she said Tuesday in an email from nearby Mount Shasta, where she spent the night with her family.
Fire crews took advantage of calmer winds and firefighting aircraft Tuesday, gaining control in and around Weed. Flames still threatened in other parts of California.
In Oakhurst, a foothill community south of Yosemite National Park, a fire that had burned 320 acres was 40 percent contained. About 600 residents from 200 homes remained evacuated, Madera County sheriff's spokeswoman Erica Stuart said.
Farther north, a wildfire about 60 miles east of Sacramento forced the evacuation of 133 homes. El Dorado County sheriff's officials said residents of an additional 406 homes were being told to prepare to flee.
More than 1,500 firefighters battled the blaze, which started in a remote area Saturday but exploded Sunday when it reached a canyon of thick, dry brush. It grew rapidly and had burned through more than 18 square miles as of Tuesday morning. It was only 5 percent contained.
More than 4,000 wildfires have burned in California this year.
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Local residents wade through floodwaters in Kota Bahru on December 28, 2014.
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Local residents use a boat to cross floodwaters in Kota Bahru on December 28, 2014.
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Damage at the Hilton Los Cabos Beach & Golf resort, Cabo San Lucas.
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Damage at the Hilton Los Cabos Beach & Golf resort, Cabo San Lucas.
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The staff locker room ceiling at the Hilton Los Cabos Beach & Golf resort, Cabo San Lucas.
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Drivers navigate high water on Bradley Boulevard on April 30 in Bethesda, MD.
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A school bus creates a wake while navigating high water on Bradley Boulevard on April 30 in Bethesda, MD.
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Drivers navigate high water on Bradley Boulevard on April 30 in Bethesda, MD.
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Pedestrians walk in the street during a snow storm in Detroit Wednesday, March 12, 2014. The storm will likely move the Detroit area close to the seasonal snow total of 93.6 inches set in 1880-1881, according to the National Weather Service.
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The statue of President Andrew Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans, sculpted in 1853 by Clark Mill sits in the falling snow in Lafayette Park across the street from the White House in Washington, Monday, March 3, 2014. The winter weather prompted area schools and the federal government to close and the National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning for the greater Washington Metropolitan region.
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A morning commuter waits on a train during a winter snowstorm Monday, March 3, 2014, in Philadelphia.
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A field that used to have almond trees at Baker Farming on February 25, 2014 in Firebaugh, California. Almond farmer Barry Baker of Baker Farming had 1,000 acres, 20 percent, of his almond trees removed because he doesn't have access to enough water to keep them watered as the California drought continues.
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A tractor plows a field on February 25, 2014 in Firebaugh, California. Almond farmer Barry Baker of Baker Farming had 1,000 acres, 20 percent, of his almond trees removed because he doesn't have access to enough water to keep them watered as the California drought continues.
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A pedestrian steps into a deep puddle at a slushy intersection in New York, Friday, Feb. 14, 2014.
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The morning sun is framed by ice crusted on a barrier on the Observation Deck of New York's Empire State Building, Friday, Feb. 14, 2014. The latest winter storm to pummel the country was moving off the East Coast by Friday morning after slamming the Southeast with traffic jams and power outages and dropping a foot or more of snow on parts of the mid-Atlantic and Northeast.
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A pedestrian walks through a cloud of steam on a snowy street in New York, Friday, Feb. 14, 2014. Commuters faced slick roads on Friday after yet another winter storm brought snow and ice to the East Coast, leaving at least 24 people dead.
AP
People dig out vehicles after overnight snow on Friday, Feb. 14, 2014, in Albany, N.Y. Schools are closed across a swath of eastern New York from the mid-Hudson Valley to the Albany area as the region starts to dig out from 12 to 20 inches of snow dumped by the latest winter storm.
AP
A woman and her dog go for a walk in Central Park, Friday, Feb. 14, 2014 in New York. Yet another winter storm brought snow and ice to the East Coast.
AP
A Park Service employee clears snow in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2014. After pummeling wide swaths of the South, a winter storm dumped nearly a foot of snow in Washington as it marched Northeast and threatened more power outages, traffic headaches and widespread closures for millions of residents.
AP
People dig out vehicles buried in snow in downtown Albany, N.Y., on Friday, Feb. 14, 2014. Schools are closed across a swath of eastern New York from the mid-Hudson Valley to the Albany area as the region starts to dig out from 12 to 20 inches of snow dumped by the latest winter storm.
AP
Ice coats pine needles following a snow and ice storm in Chapel Hill, N.C., Thursday, Feb. 13, 2014. The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning lasting into Thursday covering 95 of the state's 100 counties.
AP
Passerby Leo Cruz helps push a car from the frozen roadside in Chapel Hill, N.C., Thursday, Feb. 13, 2014. The owner abandoned the car overnight during the storm. The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning lasting into Thursday covering 95 of the state's 100 counties.
AP
Good Samaritans help push a stranded motorist stuck in deep snow on Stefko Boulevard Thursday, Feb. 13, 2014 in Bethlehem, Pa. A wide swath of Pennsylvania awoke Thursday to a fresh coating of snow and a forecast for much more to come over the course of the day.
AP
A long line of travelers including a passenger with Valentine's Day flowers, center, packs the security area at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport when operations resumed after the effects of a major winter storm halted flights for three days, on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2014, in Atlanta.
AP
Power company crews work on a downed power line near Emory University after the weight of accumulating freezing rain, sleet and snow toppled a nearby tree that slammed into power poles during a winter storm on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2014, in Atlanta. Over 175,000 residences and businesses statewide were without electricity.
AP
Fort Payne Improvement Authority workers work on lines that had become heavy with ice and were being blown around by high winds, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2014, in Dog Town, Ala. Trees and limbs began snapping under the weight of a coat of ice in east Alabama Wednesday, blocking roads during a winter storm that forecasters said could leave as much as a foot of snow in the Tennessee Valley.
AP
School bus driver Derese Burnette waits for assistance after his bus got stuck along Seawell School Rd. in Chapel Hill, NC, during a snow storm on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2014. A second winter storm in two weeks pummeled South Carolina on Wednesday, cutting power to tens of thousands and prompting Gov. Nikki Haley to ask President Barack Obama to declare the state a federal disaster area.
AP
Shmetrice Moore, a nurse at an Emory hospital, scrapes snow and ice off her windshield as she and others are released early from their shift before a winter storm on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2014, in Johns Creek, Ga. From Texas to the Carolinas and the South's business hub in Atlanta, roads were slick with ice, tens of thousands were without power, and a wintry mix fell in many areas.
AP
Ice and snow cover Interstate 26, early Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2014, in Columbia, S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley again declared a state of emergency as emergency officials worried that as much as an inch of ice accumulating on trees and power lines Wednesday into Thursday could knock out powers to thousands, especially in the Midlands.
AP
Snow and ice build up on the street signs for Snow and McDaniel Streets on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2014, in Greer, S.C. Snow and icy conditions were expected to continue in the state through Wednesday.
AP
Snow and ice begin to cover Canton Street in Roswell, Ga.,Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2014. Across the South, winter-weary residents woke up Wednesday to a region encased in ice, snow and freezing rain, with forecasters warning that the worst of the potentially "catastrophic" storm is yet to come.
AP
A taxi cab is surrounded by water on a flooded street after a water main break in Detroit on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2014. The broken water main flooded a several-block area in southwest Detroit, trapping several cars.
AP
Firefighter Robbie Hairell scrapes snow off of his car Tuesday Feb. 11, 2014 in Dog Town, Ala. A winter storm dropped from 1 inch to 3 inches of wintry precipitation across a wide area, turning trees and roads white and forcing hundreds of schools, businesses and government offices to close or open late.
AP
Barrow County residents make a snowman as a winter snow storm that the National Weather Service predicted to be "an event of historical proportions" blows into Euharlee, Ga., about 40 miles north of metro Atlanta, on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2014.
AP
Micah Hulit slides down a hill during a winter storm that the National Weather Service predicted to be "an event of historical proportions," in Euharlee, Ga., about 40 miles north of metro Atlanta, on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2014.
AP
A golfer tees off at the fog shrouded golf course at Land Park in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2014. After a weekend storm brought much needed rain, fog has moved in to blanket the Capital city.
AP
A man crosses the street in front of the Illinois State Capitol Complex during a snowstorm Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2014, in Springfield, Ill. Just as the East Coast digs out from a canopy of wet, heavy snow, more of the same is moving through the Midwest and heading east again.
AP
People walk through a snow-covered Central Park in New York, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2014. The National Weather Service said Monday's storm, which brought 8 inches of snow to New York City, will be followed by a new storm in the Midwest on Tuesday.
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Streets and Sanitation workers prepare road salt as the city braces for another winter storm on February 4, 2014 in Chicago, Illinois. Although Chicago says it has a good supply, many of the suburban communities are running out of salt after an unusually cold and snowy start to the winter.
AP
A construction worker smiles as he unloads rebar from a truck during a winter snowstorm, Monday, Feb. 3, 2014, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. After several days of mild weather, snow has returned to the Northeast.
AP
A pedestrian walks against the snow and wind on 42nd Street, Monday, Feb. 3, 2014, in New York. Another round of winter weather followed a day of unseasonable temperatures with several inches of snow in the eastern United States on Monday, closing schools, disrupting air traffic and snarling travel plans for people trying to return home from the Super Bowl in the New York area.
AP
A park employee carries a shovel through Bryant Park on 42nd Street in the snow, Monday, Feb. 3, 2014, in New York.
AP
A snow plow waits for a vehicle to move out of its parking spot in Brooklyn's Flatbush neighborhood on Monday Feb. 3, 2014 in New York. Nearly 2,000 flights and 1,500 canceled flights were eported nationwide in cities including Philadelphia, Newark, N.J., and New York.
AP
A man looked to Lake Michigan at the 39th Street Harbor in Chicago on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2014. A new storm system threatens to bring significant snowfall Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by more arctic air that will drop readings to subzero levels again both Wednesday and Thursday mornings.
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Chunks of ice float in the James River on January 29, 2014, in Richmond, Virginia. A rare winter storm has brought ice and snow across the southern states, closing schools and stranding motorists.
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A truck being used to transport sand to spread across the ice-covered roads is parked along route 78 on January 29, 2014 in Snellville, Georgia. Thousands of motorists were stranded, many overnight, as a winter storm dropped three inches of snow, and ice made driving hazardous.
AP
In this aerial photo, traffic is snarled along the I-285 perimeter north of the metro area after a winter snow storm, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2014, in Atlanta. Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal said early Wednesday that the National Guard was sending military Humvees onto Atlanta's snarled freeway system in an attempt to move stranded school buses and get food and water to people. Georgia State Patrol troopers headed to schools where children were hunkered down early Wednesday after spending the night there, and transportation crews continued to treat roads and bring gas to motorists, Deal said.
AP
Sunny Walker, a stranded motorist on Interstate 285, holds her two dogs while in her truck Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2014 in Dunwoody, Ga. Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal said early Wednesday that the National Guard was sending military Humvees onto Atlanta's snarled freeway system in an attempt to move stranded school buses and get food and water to people.
AP
In this aerial photo, abandoned cars at I-75 headed northbound near the Chattahoochee River overpass are piled up in the median of the ice-covered interstate after a winter snow storm , Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2014, in Atlanta. Georgia Gov.
AP
Kevin Moore hands out water to a stranded motorist on Interstate 285 Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2014 in Dunwoody, Ga. Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal said early Wednesday that the National Guard was sending military Humvees onto Atlanta's snarled freeway system in an attempt to move stranded school buses and get food and water to people.
AP
Pearl Tilley, Maya Tilley, center, and Ashley Walker make their way home from school Tuesday January 28, 2014 in Childersburg, Ala. A fast-moving, unexpectedly severe winter storm blanketed much of Alabama and the south with a treacherous layer of frozen precipitation Tuesday.
AP
A pedestrian crosses Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. as snow falls in downtown Charlotte, N.C., Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2014. Snow, sleet and freezing rain fell across much of North Carolina.
AP
Red Cardinals sit on flora, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2014, in Decatur, Ga.. Georgians stocked up on ice-melting chemicals, school systems closed, and road crews cleared snow and ice from highways as a winter storm moved through.
AP
Jason Morrow, left, and Larry Nunn, Sr., who are homeless, huddle in blankets to keep warm under the Pontchartrain Expressway in downtown New Orleans, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2014. The third and nastiest arctic blast of the season hit Louisiana on Tuesday, as freezing rain began to fall and the rare possibility of snow loomed.
AP
Cliff Helton sleds in the snow, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2014, in Knoxville, Tenn. Temperatures in the teen's fell into the single-digit's Tuesday night.
AP
Claire Woolsey, a Belhaven University student from Ireland, holds onto Serenity Aguilar, 4, as they use a trash bag to slide down the hills that surround the soccer fields at Belhaven University in Jackson, Miss. on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2014.
AP
Vehicles make their way around a beer delivery truck that slid off county road 25 during a snow storm which hit the south, Tuesday Jan. 28, 2014 in Wilsonville, Ala. A winter storm that would probably be no big deal in the North all but paralyzed the Deep South on Tuesday, bringing snow, ice and teeth-chattering cold.
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With temperatures hovering around -10 degrees commuters wait for a bus January 27, 2014 in Chicago, Illinois. The city has had 18 days at or below zero so far this winter, two shy of the 20-day record.
AP
Vehicles are backed up on a snow covered US Highway 280 during a snow storm, Tuesday Jan. 28, 2014 in Chelsea, Ala. A winter storm that would probably be no big deal in the North all but paralyzed the Deep South on Tuesday.
AP
Mike Patton, center, a volunteer for the New Orleans Police Department Homeless Assistance Unit, along with two police officers, assists an incapacitated man off the sidewalk to take him to a homeless shelter in New Orleans, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2014.
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Ice gathers on a drain in the French Quarter as winter weather threatens on January 28, 2014 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
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Erinn Lingo (L) and Nicoloette Anders sit stranded at Louis Armstrong International Airport after flights were canceled for due to winter weather on January 28, 2014 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
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With temperatures hovering around -10 degrees steam rises from Lake Michigan January 27, 2014 in Chicago, Illinois. The city has had 18 days at or below zero so far this winter, two shy of the 20-day record.
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Ice forms along the shore of Lake Michigan as temperatures hovered around -10 degrees on January 28, 2014 in Chicago, Illinois. The city has had 18 days at or below zero so far this winter, two shy of the 20-day record.
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With temperatures hovering around -10 degrees commuters wait for a bus January 27, 2014 in Chicago, Illinois.
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With temperatures hovering around -10 degrees steam rises from Lake Michigan January 27, 2014 in Chicago, Illinois.
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Ice forms as waves crash along the Lake Michigan shore Monday, Jan. 27, 2014, in Chicago. Below-zero high temperatures have returned to many parts of the Midwest bringing with it wind chills ranging from the negative teens to 40s, school cancellations and sighs of resignation from residents who are weary of bundling up.
The Washington Post via Getty Images
A closeup view of ice crystals on a storm door is shown Wednesday January 22, 2014 in Frederick, MD.
The Washington Post via Getty Images
Steam is seen coming out from the buildings along Independence Avenue where George Stinny of the National Park Service cleans up the sidewalks at the National Mall which are covered with ice and snow after a winter storm.
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A view of the Central Park lake, partially frozen due to the record cold temperatures after the snow storm in New York, January 22, 2014.
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People sled down snow covered hills in Central Park after the snow storm in New York, United States, January 22, 2014.
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Snow covered streets are viewed in Brooklyn on the morning after a major winter storm blanketed much of New York City in 10 to 12 inches of snow on January 22, 2014 in New York City. While the storm caused major traffic and subway delays, New York City area schools were open on Wednesday morning.
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Helene Johnson clears a sidewalk of snow in Brooklyn on the morning after a major winter storm blanketed much of New York City in 10 to 12 inches of snow on January 22, 2014 in New York City. While the storm caused major traffic and subway delays, New York City area schools were open on Wednesday morning.
AP
A man shovels snow off his car in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2014. A winter storm stretched from Kentucky to New England and hit hardest along the heavily populated Interstate 95 corridor between Philadelphia and Boston.
AP
Alisa Riley, of Hingham, Mass., shovels snow from a sidewalk in front of a women's fitness center where she works in Scituate, Mass., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2014. The National Weather service reports that by Wednesday morning some towns in the state had about 18 inches of snow from a winter storm.
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A pedestrian walks through a snow storm, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2014, in south Philadelphia. A storm swept across the Mid-Atlantic and New England, bringing 8 to 12 inches of snow to Philadelphia and New York City, and more than a foot in Boston.
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People make their way on Times Square during a snow storm in New York, January 21, 2014. In New York, a storm alert was issue for noon Tuesday to 6:00 am Wednesday with as much as a foot forecast for the metropolitan region.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
A woman walks outside of an office building as snow falls, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2014, in Baltimore. Thousands of flights were canceled, students got an extra day off from school or were being sent home early, and the federal government closed its offices in the Washington area Tuesday as another winter storm bears down on the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.
AP
Commuters wait for a bus during a winter snowstorm Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2014, in Philadelphia. A storm is sweeping across the Mid-Atlantic and New England. The National Weather Service said the storm could bring 8 to 12 inches of snow to Philadelphia and New York City, and more than a foot in Boston.
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A man walks on a Brooklyn promenade near the Manhattan Bridge on a morning with dense fog on January 15, 2014 in New York City. Travel delays were reported for commuters due to the fog as were delays at airports from Washington to New York City.
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The silhouettes of trees are viewed in Brooklyn's Prospect Park on a morning with dense fog on January 15, 2014 in New York City. Travel delays were reported for commuters due to the fog as were delays at airports from Washington to New York City.
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People walk in Brooklyn's Prospect Park on a morning with dense fog on January 15, 2014 in New York City. Travel delays were reported for commuters due to the fog as were delays at airports from Washington to New York City.
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A man walks on a Brooklyn promenade near the Manhattan Bridge on a morning with dense fog on January 15, 2014 in New York City. Travel delays were reported for commuters due to the fog as were delays at airports from Washington to New York City.
NASA/NOAA GOES Project, Dennis Chesters
NOAA's GOES-East satellite captured a Midwestern wintertime "White Out" at 2015 UTC/3:15 p.m. EST on January 6, 2014. Blowing snow and intensely cold air created dangerous white-out conditions over the Midwest, particularly around the Great Lakes, where daytime temperatures averaged -20F with a wind chill near -50F. You can see the great lakes are frozen over.
AP
A man walks past a car partially covered in ice in Baltimore, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2014, where temperatures continue to remain well below freezing. An arctic blast eased its grip on much of the U.S. on Wednesday, with winds calming and the weather warming slightly a day after temperature records, some more than a century-old, shattered up and down the Eastern Seaboard.
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Ice crystals gather atop a frozen pond on January 7, 2014 in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky. Temperatures in the single digits coupled with below-zero wind chills have prompted the closure of local governments, schools, and businesses throughout the South.
AP
A New York city pedestrian covers up against single digit temperature on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2014. The high was around10 degrees. But wind chills will make it feel more like minus 10.
Hank Cain
Pilot Hank Cain captured this image of a frozen Chicago from a United Express flight from Washington D.C. to the Windy City on Jan. 7
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Ice builds up along Lake Michigan at North Avenue Beach as temperatures dipped well below zero on January 6, 2014 in Chicago, Illinois. Chicago hit a record low of -16 degree Fahrenheit this morning as a polar air mass brought the coldest temperatures in about two decades into the city.
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Commuters make a sub-zero trek to offices in the Loop on January 6, 2014 in Chicago, Illinois.
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In this satellite handout image provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), shows the entry of a large area of low pressure of the Polar Vortex into the Northern U.S. January 6, 2014. The weather system is bringing dangerously cold temperatures not seen in half of the continental United States in about 20 years. It is expected to move northward back over Canada toward the end of the week.
AP
A man wears a face mask and heavy clothes while walking through downtown Springfield, Ill., in blowing and falling snow as a strong winter storm moves through the Midwest Sunday, Jan. 5, 2014. Temperatures not seen in years are likely to set records in the coming days across the Midwest, Northeast and South, creating dangerous travel conditions and prompting church and school closures.
AP
A Michigan State Trooper checks on a motorist who slid off I-75 in Clarkston, Mich., Sunday, Jan. 5, 2014. Michigan residents are stocking up in preparation for the harshest winter conditions in 20 years, with a foot of snow already on the ground, more on the way and temperatures expected to dive as low as minus 15.
AP
The Chicago skyline and a freezing Lake Michigan are seen from the Museum Campus in Chicago on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2014. Sunday night temperatures will drastically drop to about minus 20 degrees.
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New Yorkers take advantage of closing schools due to the snowstorm hit the north part of the country. People in New York go to the Central Park and enjoy the snowy environment on January 3, 2014, in New York.
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New Yorkers take advantage of closing schools due to the snowstorm hit the north part of the country.
AP
A mailbox and bench are covered with ice near a building which caught on fire in Plattsmouth, Neb., Friday, Jan. 3, 2014, and the water sprayed on it by fire fighters froze. Much of the American Northeast and the Midwest are suffering from sub-freezing temperatures.
AP
Michael Stanton walks between houses cover in ice from sea spray along the shore in Scituate, Mass., Friday, Jan. 3, 2014. Wind-whipped, fluffy snow continued to fall across the state, buffeted by wind gusts at around 40 miles per hour. National Weather Service reported Friday morning that the temperature in Boston was 2 degrees, but 20-below when the wind chill is factored in.
AP
A man takes photos of snowmen with the Capitol in the background, Friday, Jan. 3, 2014, in Washington. After a storm blew through the Washington region overnight, roads are being cleared and many schools systems are closed. The federal government and the District of Columbia government will be open Friday, but workers have the option to take leave or telework.
AP
Alex Herrick, Adam Scirico and Peter Herrick clear a section of Hampton Manor Lake to play ice hockey on Friday, Jan. 3, 2014, in East Greenbush, N.Y. Upstate New York on Friday had temperatures in the single digits with below-zero wind chills.
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A pedestrian uses his cross-country skies on 58th Street during his morning commute, Friday, Jan. 3, 2014, in New York. New York City public schools were closed Friday after up to 7 inches of snow fell by morning in the first snowstorm of the winter.
AP
US Postal Service letter carrier Danny Kim clears snow and ice as he climbs on the hood of his mail delivery truck in the parking lot at the U.S. Post Office in Bethesda, Md., Friday, Jan. 3, 2014. Kim said that despite the storm resulting in many closing of local school systems, he and his colleagues were working on an unchanged schedule. A winter storm that swept across the Midwest this week blew through the Northeast and its biggest cities on Friday, producing more than a foot of snow in spots, giving rise to wind gusts that threatened trees and power lines, and leaving bone-chilling cold in its wake.
AP
Sunlight streams through the windows of a building which caught on fire in Plattsmouth, Neb., Friday, Jan. 3, 2014, and the water sprayed on it by fire fighters froze. Much of the American northeast and the midwest are suffering from sub-freezing temperatures.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
A man clears snow from a vehicle on Friday, Jan. 3, 2014, in Albany, N.Y. A winter storm slammed into the U.S. Northeast with howling winds and frigid cold, dumping nearly two feet (60 centimeters) of snow in some parts and whipping up blizzard-like conditions Friday.
AP
A woman uses a shovel to dig her car out a snowbank Friday, Jan. 3, 2014, in the Queens borough of New York. The New York City Office of Emergency Management issued a hazardous travel advisory into Friday, warning that roads likely would be icy and snow would continue to drift.
AP
A man who did not wish to be identified uses a snow blower to clear a path near an apartment complex Friday, Jan. 3, 2014, in the Queens borough of New York. The New York City Office of Emergency Management issued a hazardous travel advisory into Friday, warning that roads likely would be icy and snow would continue to drift.
AP
A bicycle is buried by overnight snowfall, Friday, Jan. 3, 2014, in the Queens borough of New York. New York City public schools were closed Friday after up to 7 inches of snow fell by morning in the first snowstorm of the winter.
AP
Children make a snow pile in Times Square, during a snowstorm Thursday. The storm is expected to bring snow, stiff winds and punishing cold into the Northeast.
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"I love New York 2.1.14" is stenciled into the snow during winter storm "Hercules" in lower Manhattan January 2, 2014 in New York City. The storm is expected to dump up to 10 inches of snow overnight. So far, there have been over 2,000 flight cancellations, and New York Governor Cuomo has shut down LIE service. Click through to see more extreme weather photos.
AFP/Getty Images
Visitors enjoy the snow on Broadway January 2, 2014 on Times Square in New York. Forecasters are predicting up to seven inches of snow in New York. Snowfall in the northeastern United States caused flight cancellations and airport delays while federal government offices and schools closed due to the foul weather. AFP PHOTO/Don Emmert (Photo credit should read DON EMMERT/AFP/Getty Images)
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Ferdinand Barrios clears snow from his truck in the Humboldt Park neighborhood on January 2, 2014 in Chicago, Illinois.
AFP/Getty Images
Visitors enjoy the snow on Broadway January 2, 2014 on Times Square in New York. Forecasters are predicting up to seven inches of snow in New York. Snowfall in the northeastern United States caused flight cancellations and airport delays while federal government offices and schools closed due to the foul weather.
AP
A Frontier airplane waits for passengers at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2014. Another one to three inches of snow could fall across the Chicago metro area Thursday with even more falling in the southern part of the region, according to the National Weather Service.
AP
A park crew clears the snow around Annish Kapoor's stainless steel Cloud Gate sculpture at Millennium Park, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2014, as snow continues to accumulate in downtown Chicago. More snow could fall across the Chicago metro area Thursday, according to the National Weather Service.
AP
A winter-weary commuter struggled against the blowing snow Thursday in Chicago. The first winter storm of 2014 slammed the Midwest before heading toward the Northeast, threatening to dump as much as 18 inches of snow before temperatures plummet dangerously low.
AP
Snowdrifts blanketed rental cars at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. The snowstorm forced the cancellation of more than 1,000 flights out of Chicago's airports on Wednesday and Thursday.
AP
In coastal Maine, astronomical high tides combined with the winter storm's strong winds and frigid temperatures to create dangerous conditions. Here, a utilities truck drives through a flooded road along the Portland waterfront.
AP
Christina Kistler walks her dog Sheldon in snow on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2014, in Albany, N.Y. Snow and bone-chilling temperatures are greeting morning commuters across New York on the first work day of 2014, with some upstate areas expected to get more than a foot of snow by the weekend.
AP
Passengers from the trapped Russian vessel MV Akademik Shokalski prepare to board the Chinese helicopter Xueying 12 in the Antarctic Thursday, Jan. 2, 2014. A helicopter rescued all 52 passengers from the research ship that has been trapped in Antarctic ice, 1,500 nautical miles south of Hobart, Australia, since Christmas Eve after weather conditions finally cleared enough for the operation Thursday.
AFP/Getty Images
A man looks at the level of water on January 2, 2014 in the city center of the western city of Quimperle flooded by the Laita river. Britanny is placed under flood warning due to heavy rains and high tidal coefficient.
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Flood water from the River Mole rises after recent rain on January 2, 2014 in Leatherhead, England. Government ministers are holding a COBRA emergency committee meeting today to discuss the United Kingdom's response to recent flooding.
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Flood water from the River Mole rises after recent heavy rain on January 2, 2014 in Leatherhead, England. Government ministers are holding a COBRA emergency committee meeting today to discuss the United Kingdom's response to recent flooding.
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Flood water from the River Mole rises after recent heavy rain on January 2, 2014 in Leatherhead, England. Government ministers are holding a COBRA emergency committee meeting today to discuss the United Kingdom's response to recent flooding.
RICHARD BOUHET/AFP/Getty Images
A cyclonic swell sweeps a pier on January 2, 2014 in Saint-Gilles, in the French La Reunion overseas island.The Indian Ocean island is placed on red-alert today, due to the Bejisa hurricane with gusts between 120 and 150 km per hour and may even exceed 200 km per hour. In early afternoon the storm made its first casualties, leaving more than 80,000 homes without electricity.
RICHARD BOUHET/AFP/Getty Images
A man faces fierce winds on January 2, 2014 in Saint-Gilles, in the French La Reunion overseas island.The Indian Ocean island is placed on red-alert today, due to the Bejisa hurricane with gusts between 120 and 150 km per hour and may even exceed 200 km per hour.
RICHARD BOUHET/AFP/Getty Images
A photo taken on January 2, 2014 shows a landing stage hit by sea waves in Saint-Paul, in the French La Reunion overseas island. The Indian Ocean island is placed on red-alert today, due to the Bejisa hurricane with gusts between 120 and 150 km per hour and may even exceed 200 km per hour.
RICHARD BOUHET/AFP/Getty Images
A man takes pictures of the sea waves near a landing stage on January 2, 2014 in Saint-Paul, in the French La Reunion overseas island. The Indian Ocean island is placed on red-alert today, due to the Bejisa hurricane with gusts between 120 and 150 km per hour.
AP
A broken electrical pole hangs in the air as Kashmiri Muslims drive on a snowy road on the outskirts of Srinagar, India Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2014. Snowfall in the Indian portion of Kashmir has disrupted power supply, as well as air and road traffic between Srinagar and Jammu, according to news reports.
AP
A Kashmiri Muslim fisherman casts his net after a fresh snowfall in Srinagar, India, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2014.
AP
Green Bay Packers fans tailgate before an NFL wild-card playoff football game between the Green Bay Packers and the San Francisco 49ers.
