The Northern Storm and Midwestern Weather Service Forecasts for the weekend of December 21st through Sunday. High Winds and Snow in Minnesota, South Dakota, and Alaska
An atmospheric river event, bringing ample amounts of moisture to the West this weekend, will gradually move across the country and bring hazardous weather to millions.
The storm will hit the Great Lakes on Friday and dump snow across the Midwest on Saturday. Portions of Michigan could pick up more than a foot of snow by Friday, making travel impossible at times.
There will be some rain over the weekend, and some areas of northern and central California could get as much as 5 inches of rain. Coastal erosion and flooded roadways will be the main concerns.
Winds will also be a concern for California, with gusts of up to 40 mph in the valleys, 50 mph for coastal areas, and potentially even higher gusts forecast for exposed coastal headlands, mountaintops, and ridges.
According to the weather service office in Twin Cities it will bring between 5 and 9 inches of snow across the region with the highest amounts north and west of the Twin Cities. While snow will steadily fall across the region, the high winds won’t kick in until Thursday.
Some of the areas will be difficult to travel in if not impossible at times due to the slick roads and snow. Power outages will also be possible due to very strong winds.
Matthew is a meteorologist at the Storm Prediction Center and he toldCNN that tornadoes in December are uncommon when compared to the springtime, but are more likely in different parts of the Southeast and Lower Mississippi Valley.
A tornado watch has been issued for parts of Texas and Oklahoma until 4 a.m. A couple of tornadoes are possible, as well as ping-pong-sized hail and wind gusts up to 75 mph.
“The details regarding the areas most at risk from tornadoes will become clearer as the event approaches and smaller-scale trends become more evident,” Elliott said.
Travel through the area will be impossible on Tuesday and Wednesday and possibly into Thursday according to the National Weather Service office.
Interstates in South Dakota could become impassable amid the blizzard conditions, resulting in roadway closures across the state, the South Dakota Department of Transportation warned Monday.
A winter storm warning, ice storm warning, and winter weather advisory were all issued by the National Weather Service in Minnesota. Challenging winter weather could impact travel statewide all week, the Minnesota Department of Transportation said on Monday.
In Anchorage, Alaska, an “unprecedented amount of snowfall” has led to schools being closed for four days and shut down the University of Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Pacific University on Monday.
High-Temperature Weather, Winds and Fluxes: Expectations for the Coldest Days of the Year, as Forecasted by the National Weather Service
The areas that need the water have seen some relief from the dry conditions. Tennessee, for example, went from 96% of the state under drought to being at 46% this week.
There are more than 90 million people under winter weather alerts and more than 87 million people under wind chill alerts. As far south as the Texas/Mexico border, the alerts stretch across 37 states.
Denver will go from a high of 47 on Wednesday to a low of minus 14 on Thursday morning. That would be the city’s coldest day in 32 years, according to the weather service.
The weather service said travel becomes very difficult or impossible during the time when snow is expected. If you are stranded in the 30 below to 45 below zero temperature range, this event could be life threatening.
The weather service office warned of the potential for significant impacts to the evening peak travel window after the rapid development of dangerous conditions Thursday afternoon.
The Midwest may be affected by strong winds, especially in areas where there was heavy snow last week. Millions will find a way to remain warm as temperatures plummet to the below freezing mark.
Even the South will be dangerously cold. Nashville and Atlanta will feel a little like minus 11 on Saturday, and Birmingham feels a little like minus 5.
In anticipation of the winter storm that will sweep the country this week, United, American, Delta, Southwest and Jet Blue have issued travel waivers for dozens of airports from the south to the Northeast because they fear that low visibility will make air travel dangerous.
Snow and Ice in the Central High Plains from a Category 3 Hurricane. The Great Storm of 1978: a Cold Front that Spreads Through the Night
Friday: The storm is expected to become a “bomb cyclone” Thursday evening into Friday. A bomb cyclone happens when a storm gets so much stronger that it drops 24 bars of atmospheric pressure in 24 hours.
The storm is expected to be a Category 3 hurricane, with the weather service describing it as a once-in-a- generation event.
“This is a case in which snow totals may not tell the whole story. Even small snow amounts, when combined with very strong wind gusts and plummeting temperatures, can cause poor visibility and slick spots on roads. The sudden arrival of these conditions can increase the danger,” the weather service explained.
Jackson and Birmingham will both spend more than 80 hours below freezing between Friday and Monday. Houston could sit below freezing for 46 hours between Thursday and Saturday.
The biggest culprit behind the holiday madness is an extremely cold air mass moving in from the Arctic. The experts tell The Verge that the situation is similar to that of 1978’s “Great storm of 1978.” Fortunately, forecasters can now issue more accurate warnings much earlier than they could in the ’70s. Hopefully, that will allow people enough time to prepare and keep themselves safe. This storm system packs a number of punches — from rapidly dropping temperatures to dangerous winds, snow, and ice.
The US is facing a record-breaking cold air mass. Well, the sun set at the North Pole on September 21st. The winter is over in the far northern region. Martin explains that the air cannot do much as it does not have a sun to warm it up. You can generate cold air at this time of year.
Predictors now consider the rapid temperature drops and wind of that storm to be the biggest concern. Across the central High Plains, temperatures have free-fallen some 50 degrees Fahrenheit within a few hours as the leading edge of that cold air mass, the cold front, advances. Yesterday in Laramie, Wyoming, temperatures plummeted from 27 degrees to 3 degrees in only 15 minutes. The quick drop in temperature raises the risk of ice suddenly building up on streets and roadways, particularly in places forecast to get rain before the cold arrives. A few dozen daily temperature records could be set over the next few days.
The scale of the storm itself is much larger than a typical Nor’Easter, according to an associate professor at the University of Albany. She expected scientists to descend upon the dynamics of the storm for their research. The conditions surrounding this storm, she says, are “a textbook example of how to get storms to intensify.”