Severe storms blast eastern half of U.S. with snow and high winds, while heat rises in the West

WASHINGTON (AP) — Chaotic weather, from surprising heat in California to the threat of storms rolling into the East Coast, put over half the U.S. population in the path of extreme conditions Monday.

Storms across the nation's eastern half forced airlines to cancel roughly 4,000 flights nationwide Monday, and many schools closed early in the mid-Atlantic states, where high winds were in the forecast.

Blizzards buried parts of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota while torrential rains flooded homes and washed out roads in Hawaii.

In Washington, the House and Senate postponed votes, and federal agencies told workers to go home early. But by late afternoon, the expected rough weather had failed to develop and a tornado watch expired.

Airport delays and cancellations piled up Monday in some of the nation's largest airports — including those in New York, Chicago and Atlanta.

The private weather service AccuWeather calculated that more than 200 million people were under threat Monday of some kind of dangerous weather.

Those range from extreme heat and wildfire advisories to flood and freeze watches from the National Weather Service.

READ MORE: Severe weather batter parts of U.S., with threat of thunderstorms and tornadoes starting later Sunday

Forecasters warn about line of storms, tornadoes

The storm system that dropped snow by the foot in the Midwest barreled toward the East Coast with the potential for high winds and tornadoes, the weather service warned Monday.

"Wind is the primary threat, but within any of these areas of strong wind there could be some embedded tornadoes," said Evan Bentley, a meteorologist with the weather service.

The biggest threat stretched from Maryland to the upper edge of South Carolina.

In New York City, four people, including a child, died Monday afternoon after a fire in a three-story apartment building spread during heavy winds.

Image via WPC National Forecast Chart Static Images

Big snows in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan

Blizzard conditions continued in the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes on Monday after the storm walloped parts of Wisconsin and Michigan with several feet of snow.

Since Saturday, nearly 3 feet (61 centimeters) had fallen in the northern Wisconsin town of Mountain.

Another round of snow and gusts on Monday could bring another foot of snow across Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

Temperatures will soar into triple digits in the West

A heat dome over the Southwest will push temperatures well into the triple digits in Arizona most of the week, much earlier than normal.

California is starting to feel like summer too. The San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento will see temperatures pushing toward 90 F (32 C) by midweek.

"This is technically still winter," LA Mayor Karen Bass said Monday. "This is not normal for March, obviously, but it is a sign of how climate change is impacting our city."

While temperatures are expected to reach 100 F (37.8 C), the threat of wildfires around Los Angeles is relatively low because winds will be light.

Phoenix is expected to have five straight days of triple digit temperatures this week — only once before, in 1988, has the city recorded a 100 F day in March, DePodwin said.

"This is a heat wave that we have not seen before in recorded history in the Southwest," said AccuWeather meteorologist Dan DePodwin.

Dry and windy conditions were charging the largest wildfire in Nebraska's history. Three fires in the state have consumed more than 1,140 square miles (about 2,953 square kilometers) of mostly grassland.

"Mother Nature is throwing a doozy at us," Gov. Jim Pillen said Monday.

Landslides, rescues, collapsed home on Maui

Unrelenting rains triggered landslides, washed away roads and flooded homes and farmland in Hawaii over the weekend.

All of Hawaii's islands had spots with more than 15 inches (38 centimeters) of rain while parts of Maui were overwhelmed with double that amount, the weather service said.

While the worst of the storm has passed, more heavy rain is expected later this week. Maui Mayor Richard Bissen said there were no reports of injuries or deaths and crews were assessing damage.

Storm will bring cold into the East Coast

Forecasters said the East Coast storms were expected leave sharply colder weather in its wake.

The storm will stick around parts of the Northeast until Tuesday morning. By then, wind chills below freezing were expected to reach the Gulf Coast and the Florida Panhandle with warnings in effect across the Southeast and in part of Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Texas, forecasters warned.

To the north, rain was expected to change over to snow behind the cold front with heavy snow possible in the central Appalachians of West Virginia.

Brumfield reported from Cockeysville, Maryland, and Seewer from Toledo, Ohio. Associated Press writers Christopher Weber in Los Angeles; Jennifer Kelleher in Honolulu; Margery Beck in Omaha, Nebraska; Julie Walker in New York; Jeff Martin in Atlanta; and Gary Fields in Washington contributed.