Parts of the Plains and Upper Midwest can expect up to two feet of snow this weekend due to a major winter storm that will bring whiteout conditions into early next week, AccuWeather reports.
The state of play: A mixture of ice, sleet, snow and wind gusts will start Friday afternoon across portions of Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska. Snow will begin to taper off across the Plains on Monday, with areas left with double-digit snowfall totals.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo vetoed Thursday a bill that would have legalized electric scooters and throttle-controlled electric bikes across the state, citing safety concerns, including the lack of a helmet requirement.
Why it matters: New York has been a holdout amid the scooter craze over the last two years — despite it being a prime market for the vehicles. The bill overwhelmingly passed the state legislature last summer.
States in the Northeast are warming more over the long and short-term than other U.S. regions, according to a USA Today analysis of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data.
Why it matters: The changes have manifested in the unusual appearance of warm-water fish off the New England coast, the warming of the Great Lakes, and higher ocean temperatures, which influence coastal weather and push snowfall farther inland.
A typhoon that pummeled the central Philippines on Christmas Day has killed at least 16 people, Filipino authorities said Thursday, per AFP.
The big picture: Typhoon Phanfone packed ripped off roofs, downed power lines and caused internet and cell phone network outages as it made landfall packing winds of 120 miles mph, AFP notes. Some 3,930 travelers were still stranded at ports across the island nation following the storm by 8 a.m. Thursday local time, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reports.
