Powerful cross-country winter storm sweeps across US, bringing blizzard conditions and severe weather chaos

A powerful storm that originated over the Rocky Mountains and the Southwest of the US is moving eastward, bringing blizzard conditions and severe weather to many parts of the country in the next few days.

According to the FOX Forecast Center, a swath of heavy snow will stretch from Missouri to Michigan, while severe thunderstorms will threaten areas from Texas to the Carolinas and the mid-Atlantic.

The storm system is similar to the previous two that spared the major cities in the Northeast from significant snowfall, as the coastal temperatures were too high for snow to form. However, the situation will be very different for the Great Lakes region, where the snow and wind will be intense.

The storm system has already caused blizzard conditions on some mountains in the Pacific Northwest and triggered a fatal avalanche in California.

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The storm system will start to affect the Plains late on Thursday and continue to impact the eastern half of the nation until it moves into Canada and off the Eastern Seaboard on Saturday. Winter weather impacts The snowfall will be the lightest over the Plains and will become heavier and more widespread over the Great Lakes.

Worrisome winter

The snow will begin to fall on Thursday, and by Friday, Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee and Indianapolis will all see snow accumulation.

Forecast models indicate that some places in the Great Lakes could receive more than 10 inches of snow, along with wind gusts of over 40 mph.

The Chicago area was issued a Winter Storm Watch on Thursday, and local National Weather Service meteorologists warned that blizzard conditions were possible in northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana from Friday evening to Saturday morning.

A winter storm brought nearly a foot of snow to much of Iowa. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette via AP)

Computer model runs suggest that the most snowfall will occur from northern Illinois to Wisconsin and Michigan, where some areas could get more than a foot of fresh snow. Millions of people from the Plains to the Great Lakes are under winter weather alerts.

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The combination of the heavy snow and strong winds could make travel impossible along the I-80 corridor, and the snow could reach as far south as Interstate 40.

Snow blizzards will affect several cities

Cities like Chicago and Detroit are expected to at least double their seasonal snowfall totals. The Windy City has only recorded about 6 inches of snowfall since Dec. 1, and Detroit has only seen a paltry 1.1 inches of snow.

In the areas where the air will be warmer, south of Interstate 40, there is a risk of strong to severe storms.

Winter storm warnings and watches were in effect throughout the Northeast, and icy roads made for hazardous travel as far south as North Carolina. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones)

Severe weather impacts NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center (SPC) has identified areas in the South that are at risk of damaging winds and tornadoes on Thursday and Friday, well ahead of the arrival of the storm system. This means that the confidence is high for severe weather in these areas. Thursday’s highest risk area is centred over East Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi. The SPC has assigned this region a level 2 out of 5 on its thunderstorm risk scale.

On Friday, the risk area will move eastward and cover areas from Mississippi to North Carolina.

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Forecasters warn that the atmosphere could be more favourable for supercell thunderstorm formation than earlier in the week, when the storms were more linear in nature.

Arctic air follows the storm

Supercell storms are more likely to produce stronger tornadoes than squall line storms, which result in more widespread wind damage. Arctic air follows behind the storm system. The coldest air of the season will sweep in, dropping temperatures to nearly 0 degrees as far south as Missouri and to at least -30 degrees along the U.S.-Canada border. As the next workweek begins, the arctic air mass will spread south and eastward, but there is uncertainty about how long the cold air will last.

Will the cold air persist for a long time, or will the air mass warm up, giving only a brief taste of winter?

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