Storms across US bring heavy snow in NY, dangerous ice and a tornado in California

Inclement weather plagued areas of the US in the first half of the weekend, with dangerous conditions including heavy snow in upstate New York, a major ice storm in Midwest states, severe weather warnings around Lake Tahoe and unusual tornado activity in Central California.The ice storm beginning Friday evening created treacherous driving conditions across Iowa and eastern Nebraska Friday and into Saturday.The weather prompted temporary closures of Interstate 80 after numerous cars and trucks slid off the road.In upstate New York, more than 33 inches was reported near Orchard Park, which is often a landing point for lake-effect snow.On Saturday, a tornado touched down near a shopping mall in Scotts Valley, California, about 70 miles south of San Francisco, around 1:40 p.m.The tornado overturned cars and toppled trees and utility poles, the National Weather Service said.The Scotts Valley Police Department said several people were injured and taken to hospitals.Some trees toppled onto cars and streets and damaged roofs in San Francisco.The damage was being assessed to determine if the city was indeed hit by a tornado, which had not occurred since 2005, according to the weather service.Roger Gass, a meteorologist in the weather service’s office in Monterey, California, said the warning of a possible tornado in San Francisco was a first for the city, noting an advanced alert did not go out before the last tornado struck nearly 20 years ago.“I would guess there wasn’t a clear signature on radar for a warning in 2005,” said Gass, who was not there at the time.The fast-moving storm prompted warnings for residents to take shelter, but few people have basements in the area.“The biggest thing that we tell people in the city is to put as many walls between you and the outside as possible,” Meteorologist Dalton Behringer said.More than a foot of snow fell at some Lake Tahoe ski resorts, and a 112-mph gust of wind was recorded at the Mammoth Mountain resort south of...