(CNN) — Beginning Monday, February 21, a series of winter storms will impact the northern United States, primarily from the Northern Plains to the Great Lakes.
The Weather Prediction Center (WPC) describes this as a “significant winter storm”. As of Monday morning, nearly 25 million people are under some type of winter storm watch.
“A mixture of snow, sleet and freezing rain may arrive in two waves in parts of the region,” the WPC said.
The first will be a smaller wave this Monday with slightly fewer impacts, mostly just a quick hit of snow or a wintry mix. Then, as soon as Tuesday, another larger winter blast will move through the same areas. And it will leave a mark.
And another system will cross the country later this week, which we will talk about later.
But first things first. Snow will begin to impact the northern states as soon as this Monday. Snow in the northern plains states and upper Midwest will be heavy, with snowfall rates of 1 inch per hour at times.
“Increased wind can lead to snow blowing and drifting significantly,” said the WPC.
This could lead to near blizzard conditions in this region, including places like Minneapolis.
“Snow rates have reduced visibility by up to 800m in the heaviest snow, so periods with higher winds could provide occasional blizzard conditions,” the National Weather Service (NWS) office said.
This will create dangerous travel conditions and possible delays at the Minneapolis airport.
“The total snowfall amount will likely exceed six inches from the Dakotas to the upper Great Lakes,” the WPC said. “More than 12 inches are possible in some areas over the two days.”
Ice is also possible in some places in southern Michigan and southern Wisconsin. However, the forecast is still a bit uncertain as to where exactly the ice will form. The most affected areas could see up to 0.6 cm of ice.
There could be sporadic power outages and downed trees due to icing… not to mention dangerous road conditions, as even a thin layer of ice and snow can cause travel problems and traffic jams.
This season, we have already seen people stranded in their cars due to winter storms. In Virginia, people were trapped in their cars for more than 24 hours.
If you must venture out, Here are some tips on how to drive safely on ice and snow.
Just a quarter-inch (0.6 cm) of ice can add tremendous weight to power lines, causing stress and damage, and often power outages.
For the large cities along the I-95 corridor, this system will bring all the rain. Most of it will affect the region on Wednesday, along with wind gusts of up to 56 km/h at times.
Severe weather and storm flooding
On the southern side of the system, warm, moist air will pump south from the Gulf of Mexico, providing enough moisture to help create severe thunderstorms and flooding. The Storm Prediction Center The SPC has placed a risk level two (out of five), a “slight” risk of severe storms in the southern plains.
You can follow the storms here.
Places like Oklahoma City, Dallas, Little Rock and even Memphis could experience strong to severe storms Monday afternoon and evening.
For tomorrow, the threat slips a little further east and includes much of the southern Mississippi Valley. Jackson, Mississippi, Memphis and Nashville will have to watch for severe storms on Tuesday.
“In addition to severe storms, heavy rain is also a threat across much of the southern US this week,” said CNN Meteorologist Haley Brink. “Heavy rainfall of 1.5 inches per hour will create mostly localized areas of flash flooding through Tuesday.”
Almost 70% of the country will fall below zero this week
Behind this system, very cold air will enter. In much of the region, temperatures will drop to between 22 and 27 degrees Celsius below normal. More than 15 million people will experience freezing temperatures this week.
Check how cold it will be in your city here.
“Record cold temperatures will be possible today through Thursday in the northern Rockies, northern Plains and Midwest,” Brink said. “High temperatures across the North-Central US will be in the single digits today with some places dipping below zero.”
It will also stay cold for much of the week, before we start to see a pick up in temperatures.
As cold air travels south, states along the Gulf Coast will even feel the chill of winter. Parts of Texas could wake up to sub-zero temperatures Wednesday morning.
temperatures
While this will be cold for the south, it’s a far cry from the -28 and -34 Celsius that the Dakotas and Minnesota will wake up to on Wednesday and Thursday mornings.
“When winds are taken into account, ‘feel’ temperatures in these regions could approach -45 degrees (Celsius),” Brink said. “Freezing can occur within 10 minutes under these conditions.”
Second storm system later in the week
Just as you try to recover from the first system, prepare for the next. With so much cold air in place from the first storm system, there will be plenty of opportunity for snow and ice further south.
The winter system will act in concert in the Rocky Mountains, bringing a rapid injection of snow. Then by Thursday and Friday, it will bring snow to places as far south as Oklahoma and even Texas. However, the heaviest snow will stretch from Kansas to Missouri and Indiana.
We could even see major icing in southern Missouri and northern Arkansas, if forecast models stay consistent.
This system will also have an impact on the large cities of the Northeast. By Friday we could see snow in places like Boston, and even a wintry mix in New York City. Speaking of Boston, it could go from highs of 15 Celsius on Tuesday, to snow and highs of -1 on Thursday.
It’s still too early to hone in on the details of this one, but it will definitely be something to watch as we go into the latter part of the week.