Nearly 40 million people were warned by the winter weather in 17 southern Utah to Michigan states on Tuesday. A second storm, further south, will add to the mix midweek.
The storm will bring heavy snow to much of the Midwest on Tuesday, including Chicago and Minneapolis.
Sleet and possible freezing rain will hit parts of Iowa and northern Missouri, making the roads extremely slippery. The weight of frozen precipitation can knock down tree branches and power lines, causing power outages.
During the night, snow can turn to hail in Chicago and then into rain on Wednesday morning. This will have huge impacts on displacement.
“Some power outages are possible due to the combined effects of the accumulation of wet snow, some ice formation and wind gusts of up to 30 mph,” said the office of the National Weather Service in Chicago.
The National Meteorological Service also warns: “The heavy and humid nature of snow can be difficult to shovel, especially where several inches accumulate.”
The agency is forecasting 5 to 12 cm of snow and hail in the Chicago area, along with 1 to 2 tenths of an inch of ice.
The heaviest snow can reach 25 centimeters in parts of Iowa, northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin by Wednesday.
The second storm
A second storm system will move on the south side of the current midweek storm, increasing snow and storms in the south until New Year’s Eve.
“There will be a very clear separation of air masses along the Mississippi River, with temperatures warmer than average along the eastern half, with colder temperatures in the west,” said CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller.
This will create an area of bad weather of all kinds, as multiple storm systems move across that border.
“Parts of the central plains in the Midwest, especially extending from Kansas through Missouri and the Great Lakes, may experience a prolonged period of freezing rain and ice on Wednesday and again on Friday,” said Miller.
This could cause some tricky travel conditions, especially along the corridors of Interstate 70 and Interstate 80.
Snow and ice can reach south to Texas. The National Weather Service office in Midland / Odessa is forecasting 5 to 25 centimeters of snow in that part of Texas by Thursday morning.
Risk of severe weather
Rain and storms will also be a problem for millions this week. Heavy rain will fall across much of the Deep South, the Ohio Valley and parts of the Northeast until Thursday night, bringing 1 to 3 inches of rain to cities like Oklahoma City and Little Rock, Arkansas, with about one inch of rain over much of the Ohio Valley.
The Storm Prediction Center is forecasting a small risk of severe storms, including possible tornadoes, along the Gulf Coast for more than 7 million people on Thursday. These areas include New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Jackson, Mississippi.
The severe threat shifts to parts of Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina on Friday.
Midnight conditions on New Year’s Eve
Snow and rain will be around for many to celebrate the New Year.
With regard to temperatures, large cities in the Northeast will see temperatures around 30 years.
Midnight rain can extend from the Tennessee Valley to the Gulf Coast and parts of the Southern Plains. Midnight temperatures will be around 50 ° C for Charlotte and Atlanta. New Orleans will be wet, with temperatures in the mid-1960s.
There will be a chance of snow in central Texas on New Year’s Eve and probability of ice in parts of Oklahoma.
Conditions in the West will be much calmer.
Temperatures in southern and central California will be in the mid-1950s, with temperatures in the mid-40s and rains in the Pacific Northwest. The central Rocky Mountains will hover in the mid-1920s, with calm conditions at midnight.