A Blizzard and strong wind gusts hit parts of Montana and North Dakota on Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.

As much as 47-inches of snow fell in Albro Lake in Montana, forcing a number of road closings. The Weather Service noted that travel will be difficult to impossible in the area with potential of power outages and falling trees.

The blizzard closed schools, colleges and some government offices in North Dakota.

A meteorologist for the National Weather Service is Bismarck warned that the conditions could be historic for some regions.

Crews closed roads after several inches of snow fell in the Portland area on Monday, April 11. The town received the first measurable snowfall in April in recorded history on Monday.

AccuWeather warned the snowstorm could reach record levels in some areas.

Hail that measured more than 5.5-inches pummeled Salado, Texas. The size of the hail was so large it surpassed the National Weather Service’s scale of hail reporting standards, which covers hail of up to 4.5-inches in diameter.

At least two tornadoes also hit Iowa on Tuesday, says Accuweather.

The Storm Prediction Center cautioned that there could be scattered severe thunderstorms that could produce large hail; stern winds and tornadoes could strike Wednesday afternoon and night across large sections of the southern and central Plains into the Mississippi Valley.

Meanwhile, destructive wildfires have ravaged drought-stricken mountainsides in New Mexico as firefighters fought against wind-driven fires Thursday. A day before the wildfire burned at least 150 homes and other structures and forced thousands of residents to abandon their homes and seek refuge in two schools converted into evacuation centers. At least 6.4 square miles of forest, brush and grass on the east side of Ruidoso were scorched. Emergency evacuations were ordered in more densely populated areas.

Strong winds caused a suspension of aerial attack on the fires and kept authorities from getting a better estimate of how large the fire was. Planes did return to the air to attempt to douse the flames when the winds subsided later in the day. Seven air tankers and two helicopters have been assigned to the fire, according to Forest Service officials.

Five new large fires were reported Tuesday, and nearly 1,600 wildland firefights and support personnel were assigned to large fires in the southwestern, southern, and Rocky Mountain areas, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

Hotter and drier conditions along with decades of fire suppression practices have contributed to an increase in the number of acres that has been burned by wildfires, say fire scientists. The problem has been made worse due to more than 20-years of a western mega drought linked to climate change. The fire season is now year-round causing earlier snowmelt and rain coming later in the fall.

In Ruidoso, 140-miles northeast of El Paso, Texas, authorities declared a state of emergency and canceled schools on Wednesday. There were power outages caused by down power lines.

Nearly 4,000 people were displaced by evacuation orders issued on Tuesday. That number was expected to swell due to a later call for residents to leave.

Ruidoso in 2012 was hit by one of the most destructive wildfires in New Mexico’s history. Lightning sparked a blaze that destroyed more than 240 homes and burned about 70 square miles.

No precipitation was in the forecast that could help to douse the fires and humidity levels remained in the single digits, which hinders attempts to stop the flames.

Another wildfire is burning in the Lincoln National Forest northwest of Ruidoso that burned at least 400 acres that was sparked on Tuesday due to down power lines.

Elsewhere in New Mexico, wildfires were burning along the Rio Grande south of Albuquerque, in mountains northwest of Las Vegas, New Mexico and in the grasslands along the Pecos River near Roswell.

Top areas of power outages reported by poweroutages.us on April 14, 2022 at 10:39 a.m. include:

• Mississippi 28,959
• Louisiana 18,920
• Texas 18,314
• Kentucky 12,995
• New Mexico 5,230

Some states were hit by severe weather earlier in the week, which was discussed in yesterday’s blog.

Mother nature has all sorts of ways to cause power outages no matter where you live. For peace of mind, you may want to consider buying a standalone generator. Most generators automatically activate when power from the utility company shuts off.

APElectric has a wide range of generators made by some of the most popular manufacturers in the U.S. Visit the company’s website for more information.