CNN
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As severe winds prompted overnight tornado reports in parts of the central US, another series of storms bringing snow, rain and harsh winds are expected to stretch from Washington state to southern California and across the Great Lakes region on Monday, pummeling areas where hundreds of thousands are still without power after a similar barrage of severe weather last week.
At least two tornadoes were confirmed in Oklahoma, where more than 50,000 energy customers were without power late Sunday evening, according to outage tracker PowerOutage.us.
More than 90 other storm reports – including wind and hail – were recorded in parts of Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas as hurricane-force winds and severe thunderstorms tore through the states. A gust of 114 mph was recorded In Memphis, Texas – equivalent to a category 3 hurricane.
In anticipation of severe winds and potential hail Sunday night and into Monday, an Air Force unit at McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, Kansas, relocated most of its aircraft to protect them from damage and ensure they can still be deployed if needed, the base announced.
In the West – where last week’s storms prompted rare blizzard warnings and road flooding in California – rain and high-elevation snow will push from the Pacific Northwest down into California and into the Rockies through Monday.
Yosemite National Park was closed Saturday due to severe weather and will not reopen until at least Wednesday as a multi-day blizzard warning remains in effect across Yosemite Valley, the park announced. Yosemite Valley could see as much as 55 to 84 inches of snow by Wednesday, the park said.
Approximately 360,000 homes and businesses were without power across the US as of early Monday, nearly half of which were in Michigan, where the Great Lakes region is bracing for another round of ice and snow on Monday after being struck by last week’s multi-day storm.
The winter storm is then expected to push into the Northeast by Monday afternoon, where interior parts of the region could see widespread snowfall totals of 6 to 12 inches.
Meanwhile, the South is anticipating another week of unusually warm winter temperatures after steaming under record-breaking highs last week.
Dozens of daily high temperature records could be broken again in the coming days as areas of southern Texas and the Florida peninsula could see temperatures into the 90s.
More than 20 million people were under threat of severe storms stretching from western Texas to Illinois on Sunday.
The Storm Prediction Center forecast a severe storm event — known as a derecho — would sweep through the region Sunday afternoon and into the evening, with a particular focus on parts of Oklahoma.
A derecho is a widespread, long-lived windstorm that typically causes damage in one direction across a relatively straight path, according to the National Weather Service. To be classified as a derecho, the stretch of wind damage should extend more than 240 miles and include wind gusts of at least 58 mph along most of its length, it says.
In total, more than 100 storm reports were made Sunday across the Southern Plains, mainly of wind across Kansas, Texas and Oklahoma. This also includes 13 hail reports in those states, with several hailstones reportedly 1.75 inches in diameter.
Roughly a dozen families displaced by a tornado in Liberal, Kansas, are being accommodated and about 10 trailers were also damaged, City Manager Rusty Varnado said. At least one person was injured by broken glass, he said, noting the injuries are minor.
Two tornadoes were confirmed Oklahoma, including one in the city of Norman, where police warned of multiple road closures, downed power lines and debris.
Students on the campus of the University of Oklahoma in Norman were told to immediately take shelter Sunday evening as the area was under a tornado warning, which was lifted later that night.
