Weather Forecasts for the Midwest and Northeast through the May 31-28 Snowfall Event and Its Implications for Power Outage and Wind Speeds
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“As cold as it will likely be, it will be difficult to challenge daily record lows/cold highs due to this event overlapping with portions of the historic 1983 and 1989 cold waves. There is a chance that the East will see the lowest temperatures of the December since the beginning of the year.
The Weather Prediction Center said the fall weather pattern is expected to intensify by the end of the week and then continue into the weekend with a few cold fronts moving across the central and eastern states.
The snow will fall in inland areas. Starting in the Appalachians and extending all the way up into interior New England. The higher elevation could get 4 to 6 inches of snow.
The potential for very heavy rain could accompany the front, bringing up to two inches of rain for much of the area, and isolated locations could see even more.
“By late Tuesday night and more exceptionally on Wednesday, the major winter storm will take shape and spread tremendous snowfall, both in coverage, rates, and amounts, across the High Plains and Upper Midwest.”
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.
Bitter cold, biting wind and heavy snow are expected across the U.S. this week, forecasters say, imposing treacherous travel conditions just days before Christmas.
Areas of California that rarely see snow could get significant snowfall beginning Thursday, as heavy rain and mountain snow begin to develop in parts of the state, the weather service said. Flood watches have been put in place for lower elevation areas.
In California, a cold front can cause wind speeds to be high enough to threaten power lines. Some 119,000 homes and businesses in the Central Valley were without power on Wednesday.
Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Wisconsin all saw more than a foot of snow this week.
“If there is low visibility, travel can get dangerous on top of snow covered roads,” the NWS warns. There could be power outages in the Midwest and the Northeast due to the strong winds.
While tornadoes are less likely in the winter compared to the springtime, they are more likely in the fall and winter across 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.
The National Weather Service office in Rapid City, South Dakota, said travel through the area will be nearly impossible Tuesday and Wednesday, and possibly into Thursday.
South Dakota, Wyoming, Arizona, North Dakota and Minnesota were among the states that had to close their highways on Wednesday because of the bad weather.
The worst impacts over the Twin Cities region – which generally includes the cities of Minneapolis, St. Paul and their surrounding suburbs – are expected to begin late Wednesday into Thursday. Heavy snow and high winds will make traveling a life-threatening task for thousands.
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.
Counting tornadoes in southern and northeastern states as the same storm system hits southern states of the United States and increases the number of power outages
These areas need the moisture and have seen great relief to drought conditions in the past week. Tennessee has gone from being 98% under Drought to being at 42% this week.
After a nor’easter dropped more than a foot of snow across many parts of interior New England, more is on its way Saturday as officials warn of dangerous travel conditions the weekend before Christmas.
The storm has caused hazardous road conditions in New York as millions of people are under winter weather advisories Friday.
We want everyone in the impacted regions to not travel tonight and tomorrow. “Work from home if possible, stay off the roads, and make sure you and your loved ones remain vigilant.”
In neighboring Pennsylvania, state transportation officials implored drivers to avoid unnecessary travel due to the low visibility caused by wind and heavy snow.
A dangerous cross-country path is being cut by the relentless storm system, which brings different combinations of severe weather to different parts of the US.
Tornadoes in the South killed three people in Louisiana while also flattening many homes and other structures. Tens of thousands of people in the upper Midwest were without power for a week due to gusts of wind, piles of snow, and downed power lines.
Elsewhere, the same storm system hitting the Northeast delivered tornadoes earlier this week to several southern states. Dozens of tornadoes were reported in a number of states since Tuesday.
A quarter inch of ice was reported to the mountain peaks of West Virginia and Maryland while a tenth of an inch had built up in parts of Virginia.
The polar air arrives as an earlier storm system gradually winds down in the northeastern U.S. after burying parts of the region under two feet of snow. More than 80,000 customers were still without power in New England on Sunday, according to poweroutage.us.
Stochastic Weather Event of Friday and Sunday Forecasts in the State of Farmerville, Louisiana, with Death of a Woman and Her Son
In Louisiana, a woman and her son were Killed when a tornado destroyed their home, officials said.
A tornado with 140 mph winds damaged the town of Farmerville in northern Louisiana. At least 20 people were injured when a tornado ripped through an apartment complex and a mobile home park near Farmerville, police said.
The heavy, wet snow fell rapidly on Friday, tearing down trees and power lines which led to outages across Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and New York. According to forecasts, higher altitudes were more likely to see heavier snow.
Nearly 40,000 Vermont homes and businesses are currently without electricity, roughly 10% of the state, according to Poweroutage.us.
State police in Vermont said officers responded to a multitude of car crashes Friday and advised drivers to slow down. Some roads were closed due to the storm impact.
Over a 36-hour period, 24.5 inches of snow fell in the Vermont town of Wilmington as well as more than 19 inches in Landgrove and Ludlow, the weather service said.
One of the weather events we are watching is a rain and snow event which could bring a lot of precipitation to most of the state, the other is a storm that could bring a lot of snow to areas along Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.
Plus, up to 2 feet of snow can accumulate in areas near or south of Buffalo, New York. “These snow bands are likely to be very narrow and lead to drastically changing conditions over a short distance,” the weather service added.
The weather service said the snow showers were coming to an end and only scattered showers were expected through Saturday.
Beginning Sunday, temperatures will range between 10 to 30 degrees below average. By Tuesday, that bitter cold will spread from Washington to Wisconsin and down through Texas, and will become more extreme, with some areas reaching 45 degrees below normal.
More than 15 million people are expected to be under a wind chill watch or warning in the Northeast beginning either Thursday night or Friday morning through at least Saturday afternoon.
It is time of year again, when everyone hates Florida because the state will cool down by the end of the week, but only for a few days.
Even Miami’s high temperature of 73 on Friday – which will likely be the warmest spot across the continental US – will be nearly 10 degrees cooler than the previous day.
The first week of winter could see temperatures hit the season’s lowest by Friday. Even northern Florida cities like Jacksonville and Tallahassee could see a chill as low as 20 F on Christmas Eve.
If the storm moves east, it will make holiday travel difficult in some places, and people will be urged to change their travel plans.
“We’re looking at much-below normal temperatures, potentially record-low temperatures leading up to the Christmas holiday,” said Zack Taylor, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
South Mississippi and southeast Louisiana will see extreme and prolonged freezing conditions during the incoming front, according to the National Weather Service.
“Wind chills into the minus 50s for northern parts of this region (New England) could be the coldest felt in decades,” the Weather Prediction Center said.
Ice fishing will continue through the cold blast, since the temperatures won’t scare away anglers there — “not the hard-core ones anyway,” said Jason Mundel, who runs the Ripp’n Lipps Guide Service in northeastern Montana.
Mundel said it was 4 degrees there Sunday night, and a coyote contest was still going on in a nearby community. The guys are bundled up, just out in the cold.
Snow, Winds and Power Outages in the Windy City and Memphis: The Legacy of a Woman Who Died in An Atlanta Bus Station
He went to check on a woman with severe mental health issues in Atlanta, and thought she had died of cold. Her body was found outside the Greyhound bus station, which is open 24 hours in the heart of downtown Atlanta, he said.
He said people without housing who die in freezing weather often do so because they are battling alcohol, drugs or severe mental illness, or they do not trust others and find themselves on the streets rather than a shelter with other people.
Frank Pereira said that the snow had an impact on travel and the infrastructure.
Vermont officials said they’re finding locations for potential warming centers in the hardest-hit areas, in case they’re needed. State officials warned Saturday that some customers’ power may not be restored for two to three days.
A host at a restaurant in New Hampshire made sure that people who weren’t able to cook for themselves were taken care of on Sunday. “Even today we had some people who came in to watch the final match for the World Cup because their TVs were out.”
In parts of central Minnesota, several inches of fluffy snow are expected Wednesday, followed by high winds, creating the potential for blizzard conditions. A storm with winds of at least 35 mph along with falling or blowing snow reduces visibility for at least three hours.
Power outages will also be a concern for the Windy City as winds could gust as high as 50 mph on Friday. This will only exacerbate the storm’s impacts as wind chills will drop to at least 20 degrees below zero, possibly even colder.
There is snow in the northern regions of the world at night. So, you’ve basically got a source freezer sitting up there in the Arctic polar regions,” Greg Carbin, branch chief at the prediction center said. “It’s sort of the Polar Express and the cold air can hold on to those characteristics because there’s a lot of snow cover on the ground, even across the north-central United States.”
Nashville and Memphis will also drop below freezing on Friday. Nashville will only be able to reach 16 on Friday because of 25 mph winds. On Christmas Day, they’ll hit 26. Memphis could see their warmest Christmas since 1985 with a high of 28.
Forecasts for Eleven Degrees of Snow in the Midwest with a Major Hurricane Event Thursday through Friday, July 19. The NOAA Weather Service in Fort Worth, Texas
Friday: The storm is expected to become a “bomb cyclone” Thursday evening into Friday. A bomb cyclone is a storm that rapidly grows and drops 24 bars of atmospheric pressure in a single day.
“I-95 gets a slug of pretty deep rain and that can be a problem in those areas that are now seeing snow,” Carbin said. “You can see some runoff melting, maybe even some flooding.”
This major storm is upping the chances of a white Christmas for millions across the country. The areas that already had snow on the ground were given a certain stamp of approval.
“The probability is normally about 10% that the DC area will have at least one inch of snow on Christmas Day,” Carbin explained. “With the pattern coming together the way it is, I’d be willing to bump that up to a 30% chance and it could increase pretty substantially here in the next couple of days, depending on what scenario comes out.”
Frostbite is another risk for those trying to brave the cold, the NWS says. Subzero temperatures in some parts of the U.S. this week could lead to frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 10 minutes.
Seattle is under a winter storm warning. The storm will move east into portions of Idaho Tuesday morning and then spread out across northern and central Montana later in the afternoon.
Chicago is forecast to be one of the hardest hit cities, where a winter storm watch is in effect starting Thursday night through Friday evening. It can be difficult to travel during the holidays because of the bad weather, and many would prefer to celebrate with family and loved ones.
The weather service’s office in Fort Worth predicts icy bridges and slick roads for Tuesday in the Texas area. People were told to watch out for black ice and slippery roads.
The weather service said that water pipes will be at risk of bursting. A wind chill watch is in effect for Amarillo, Texas.
“Outdoor pipes will be at risk due to well below freezing temps and windy conditions late this week,” the weather service in Fort Worth said. Don’t let the faucets rain because you should cover them.
The latest bulletin from the National Weather Service (NWS) names the cause as a “strong arctic high pressure system,” which swept down from Canada on Tuesday and appears poised to march towards the Southeast on Wednesday and Thursday, leaving a wake of life-threatening weather systems across 17 states.
Air travel appeared largely unaffected by the approaching polar front, with more than 575 delays and 295 cancelations at airports throughout the U.S., as of Tuesday morning.
Winter Weather and Wind Chilling Alerts in Chicago, South Carolina, and Nashville, Tennessee, and Memphis, Nashville, and Birmingham, Alabama, on Thursday
They should dress in layers, cover their skin and then wear dry clothes as soon as possible. But, experts say, the best prevention by far is simply to stay indoors.
There are more than 90 million people under winter weather alerts and more than 87 million people under wind chill alerts. The alert goes as far south as the Texas/Mexico border.
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.
Travel can become difficult or impossible because of snow during this time, said the weather service. “This event could be life-threatening if you are stranded with wind chills in the 30 below to 45 below zero range.”
“Overall, concern continues to increase in the quick development of dangerous conditions Thursday afternoon with potentially significant impacts to the evening peak travel window,” warned the weather service office in Chicago.
Snow could fall as far south as Jackson, Mississippi, Memphis and Nashville in Tennessee and even Birmingham, Alabama, on Thursday. Little to no accumulation is expected for most of the southern cities, however, Nashville could pick up about an inch of snow.
Two Weather Events During the Great Lakes Overnight and Beyond: An Ice Storm Warning to Central and Southern Texas, and a Flood Warning for Oklahoma and Arkansas
The storm is expected to reach the pressure equivalent of a Category 3 hurricane as it reaches the Great Lakes, with the weather service describing the strength of the low a “once-in-a-generation” event.
Overnight into early Thursday, an additional quarter inch of ice could possibly glaze already slippery roads, particularly in central and northern Texas, southern Oklahoma and Arkansas.
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.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency on Wednesday due to the upcoming historic low temperatures and wind chills that are expected to be negative digit by Friday.
The declaration will help “ensure that essential supplies, especially propane can be delivered for both commercial and residential needs,” the governor told reporters.
Kentucky governor Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency on Friday and Saturday, with wind gusts expected to reach 40 to 50 mph. Residents were asked to stay off the roads in order to have a backup heat source.
Wintry precipitation will come in several waves across the region through Wednesday, and while there may be breaks in the active weather, roads will remain slick throughout the event as temperatures stay cold.
An ice storm warning goes into effect Monday evening for Memphis and surrounding areas in Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi. Travel could be impossible according to the warning, which lasts through Wednesday afternoon.
In Austin, freezing rain could begin as early as Monday morning. During the night and early morning, icing will be possible. Dallas is also expected to see significant icing from one-tenth to a quarter of an inch.
In Oklahoma, deteriorating travel conditions were expected to begin Monday morning as sleet and freezing rain moved into the area, according to the weather service office in Norman.
It is not known the exact cause of the collision but excessive blowing snow and winds kept visibility down even when there was no new snow. Areas along the I-80 saw between 1 and 5 inches of snow, with isolated areas along the highway seeing even higher accumulations.
On Wednesday, Texas reported a third person had died during the storm after losing control of her truck on an icy road north of Eldorado. One person was killed in Austin in a 10-car pileup, and another person died after their car rolled over in the Dallas-area city of Arlington, officials said.
The North West Coast Climate Prediction Center (NWS) predicts a record week of record high temperatures across the Mid-Atlantic and New England
“The forecast temperature gradient from the Mid-Atlantic into New England Thursday is worth noting, as highs in the 80s in Virginia drop to the single digits in northern Maine,” the NWS said in its bulletin.
“Avoid any outdoor activities on Friday and Saturday! Cold temperatures paired with the wind chill factor could lead to potentially life-threatening conditions outdoors,” the New Hampshire Homeland Security and Emergency Management said in a post on Facebook Wednesday afternoon.
The Cascade Mountains could see as much as three feet of snow in the highest elevations through Tuesday, while winds in the Pacific Northwest have the potential to gust up to 60 mph. Waves will be 20 feet in height just offshore, which will cause beach erosion.
The National Weather Service office in the state of California warned of the impact of the amount of snow on traffic going to and from Los Angeles.
Blizzard warnings are in place for southern Wyoming, where nearly two feet of snow and winds gusting more than 70 mph will create blinding conditions. The weather service has warned of wind chills falling to 25 degrees below zero.
There are a lot of record highs predicted on Thursday from Ohio to Florida. Highs could be as much as 35 degrees above normal for parts of the Southeast, Mid-Atlantic and Ohio Valley.
Whether you’re buried under three feet of snow, are basking in the sunshine, or are in the middle of a cold winter, this week is going to be wild.
The NWS Climate Prediction Center sometimes uses the term “anomalies” to describe the overall weather pattern due to the warmth and cold that people will experience.
In the Southeast and mid-Atlantic, temperatures are expected to be in the 70s and 80s on Wednesday, because Southern California may not rise above 50 degrees.
As part of the same system, rain and thunderstorms are forecast across the Midwest and Plains late Tuesday night into Wednesday, the prediction center said. Severe storms could hit the Upper Midwest starting Wednesday.
State of the State of Florida and its 66 County Executive Branch offices in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, will be closed on Wednesday through the expected snow
There is a chance of high temperatures reaching into the 70s and 80s before peaking on Thursday and the cities on the Florida peninsula could reach into the 90s. Normally these temperatures are in the 20 to 35 degrees above normal but are seen in May or early June.
Gov. Tim Walz directed the state’s National Guard, the transportation department and the state patrol to be prepared to respond storm impacts, he said on Twitter.
The flights were canceled on Wednesday morning. Almost 1,600 flights were canceled, and Minneapolis International Airport scrapped half of its arrivals.
Sioux Falls, South Dakota: It has already seen up to 4 inches of snow, but it is expected to get up to 16 inches and winds of 45 mph.
South Dakota’s governor announced Tuesday the closures of state government executive branch offices Wednesday in more than half of the state’s 66 counties, with plans for employees to work remotely. The I-90 and I 29 were partially closed on Tuesday due to the expected snow.
The main campus of Eastern Wyoming College is closing. The Natrona County school district in Casper will conduct a virtual learning day Wednesday due to hazardous weather and road conditions throughout the area, the district said.
Minnesota Snow and High Winds on Wednesday: Energy Emergency Plan for Northern States of the U.S. Advancing State Highway Patrol, National Guard and State Patrol
Residents of Northern states in the U.S. are starting to hunker down as heavy snow and high winds are predicted to create whiteout conditions on Wednesday.
Schools across Minnesota announced closures as the state’s governor said on Twitter he would direct the state’s National Guard, transportation department and state patrol to be ready to respond.
Search and rescue operations were underway Wednesday evening in several counties across Wyoming to recover motorists that become trapped in heavy snow, the state highway patrol said.
In Minnesota, swaths of which saw 3-7 inches with locally higher amounts as of early Thursday, more than 160 vehicle crashes were reported and dozens of cars spun off roads Wednesday, Minnesota State Patrol spokesperson The officer is Lt. Gordon said that in a series on his social media accounts.
In Wisconsin – similarly hit by snow since Tuesday in the north and freezing rain Wednesday in the south – Gov. Tony Evers declared a statewide energy emergency Wednesday, saying it will “allow for a more swift and efficient restoration of any electric power outages throughout the state,” a news release from his office said.
“Nearly (the) entire population of California will be able to see snow from some vantage point later this week if they look in the right direction,” according to Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles. “Snow remains very unlikely in California’s major cities, but it’ll fall quite nearby.”
The temperature difference between the north and south was 100 degrees last week due to the dueling winter storms.
Preemptively Closed Wisconsin Airport and State Offices due to the Mid-Atlantic Snow During the Fourth Quarter of the Millenium
• Wisconsin airport preemptively closed: Green Bay’s international airport canceled the remainder of its daily flights Wednesday evening and most of its flights Thursday morning.
The governor of Maine announced that state offices will be closed on Thursday because of the storm.
There is a chance for some snow. “I’m cautiously optimistic for snow lovers for snow to potentially be across the mid-Atlantic and other areas that haven’t seen really any snow at all,” Jon Gottschalk, Branch Chief at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center.
The warm weather has reached far and wide this year. Although the West has been experiencing a cold and snowy winter, most of the country has been warm.
Most people in the US will feel a change in the weather this week, with much of the cold being kept out of the northern parts of the country. There isn’t as cold of air in March to invade the US and bring too much in the way of a deep freeze like we saw in late-December.
The Tennessee Valley will get hit with a big temperature swing, going from the 80s last week to highs in the 40s next week. We could see several mornings with temperatures below freezing, which is a huge concern for agriculture.
“The main impact that we’re concerned with is the vegetation or potential crop losses, if it does come to fruition, because we do expect freezing temperatures to reach pretty far south,” Gottschalk said.
Rusty Mangrum is one of those farmers. He grows hundreds of thousands of plants every year, including fruit trees at his nursery in McMinnville, Tennessee. His trees, like most in the South and mid-South, already think it’s spring.
If the cold can last more than a day, it will affect both the farmers and consumers, but he said his plants could still produce fruit.