Greater Nashua

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The U.S. East Coast began a whiplash-inducing stretch of weather Wednesday with a deluge of rain, rapid snowmelt and powerful gusts, creating dangerous conditions, due in part to an atmospheric river and developing bomb cyclone. Ski resort operators in the Northeast watched their snow turn to mush with a deluge of rain and unseasonably high temperatures — followed by damaging winds — all in the same day, part of a powerful storm system that stretched from Florida to Maine. Utilities braced for widespread power outages with winds projected to exceed 60 mph (97 kph) through late Wednesday. Isolated severe thunderstorms were possible southward into portions of Florida. Elsewhere, heavy lake effect snow was expected through Thursday in parts of Michigan, along the Lake Michigan shoreline, and dangerous cold enveloped parts of the Upper Midwest. A key ...