Hundreds of thousands of people were left without power Saturday after high winds raked eastward from the Great Lakes region, leaving trees down and substantial property damage in their wake. Farther west, at least one person died in a massive wind-driven wildfire in Nebraska, the AP reports. Nearly 450,000 customers were still affected at midafternoon in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Michigan, according to PowerOutage.us, which tracks outages nationwide. "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."
High winds fueled multiple wildfires across a broad swath of Nebraska's range and grassland. What officials have dubbed the Morrill County fire has burned at least 735 square miles across four counties since Thursday. At least 12 structures have been destroyed, according to the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency. Chelle Ladely of Sidney said her home was currently safe, about 40 miles south of the nearest fire. But she worries for other friends and family in the area. "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 other wildfires pushed by winds of up to 65mph burned another 225 square miles for a total of nearly 938 square miles by midday Saturday. The strong winds have kept firefighters from containing any of the fires, the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency said. On Friday, a 66mph gust at Pittsburgh International Airport was deemed its fourth-strongest on record that was not caused by a thunderstorm, according to the National Weather Service. Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport saw winds hit 85mph that afternoon. Trees and tree limbs fell into or onto homes and cars from Cleveland to Pittsburgh. The roof of a school building in Niles, Illinois, was severely damaged by wind. Several Minnesota cities have already declared snow emergencies starting Sunday, when what could be the season's largest snowfall is expected to hit. Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula are also in the crosshairs.
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
