Hurricane-force winds batter Midwest

WHEATON, Ill.—Unseasonably warm temperatures, reaching up to 70 degrees in some areas, continue to fuel sometimes violent storms in the Great Plains and Midwest. At least one person died in Iowa after a storm system of high winds barreled through the region.

How bad is the damage? Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska reported tornadoes as the storm moved north into Canada on Thursday. Minnesota is working to confirm whether it saw its first-ever December twister after dozens of homes and a few businesses sustained damage. The Great Lakes region continues to suffer high winds, snow, and hazardous conditions, according to the National Weather Service. More than 400,000 homes and businesses had lost power by Thursday morning across Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, and Wisconsin, according to poweroutage.us. The Plains states received more than 20 tornado reports on the heels of a devastating series of tornadoes in states further south last weekend.

Dig deeper: Listen to Kim Henderson’s report on The World and Everything in It podcast about last weekend’s storms.