Powerful winter storm to batter much of US with snow, rain and strong winds | US weather
A powerful winter storm ripped through the eastern Plains on Sunday, driven by what meteorologists describe as an intense hurricane expected to impact much of the United States with a mix of snow, ice, rain and strong winds.
“Parts of the storm system are experiencing heavy snow, other parts of the storm along the cold front are experiencing higher winds and colder temperatures as it passes through the front,” said Bob Oravec, chief forecaster at the National Weather Service (NWS) office in College Park, Maryland. “They’re all related; different parts of the country will experience different impacts from this storm.”
Snow and strengthening winds spread across the upper midwest on Sunday; here the NWS warned of whiteout conditions and possible blizzard conditions that could make travel impossible in some areas. Snowfall totals were expected to exceed 30 cm across the upper Great Lakes and reach up to 60 cm along the southern shore of Lake Superior.
Meteorologists warned of severe thunderstorms in the south that were expected to signal the arrival of a sharp cold front, sometimes called the “Blue North”; This will lead to a sudden drop in temperatures and strong northern winds, ending days of record temperatures in the region.
The snowy holiday season in the upper midwest and northeast comes as spring-like temperatures continue across much of the central and southern parts of the country, where record high temperatures have made Santa Claus sweat in recent days.
The NWS said the high temperature in Atlanta was forecast to be around 72F (22C) on Sunday, continuing the warming trend after climbing to 78F (about 26C) to shatter the city’s record high temperature for Christmas Eve. Several other record high temperatures were seen in the south and midwest in the days after Christmas.
But forecasters say this record heat will end quickly.
Cold air is expected to bring rain to much of the South late Sunday night into Monday and bring much colder air into Tuesday. The sudden change will drop the low temperature in Atlanta to 25F (-3.9C) early Tuesday morning. Cold weather in the south is expected to continue until New Year’s Eve.
Temperatures in Dallas on Sunday could drop from the low 80s (upper 20s C) to the mid-40s (single digits Celsius). In Little Rock, high temperatures around 70F (21C) on Sunday could drop to highs in the mid-30s on Monday.
“We are definitely moving back to a more wintery pattern,” Oravec said.
Over the next 48 hours, the hurricane is expected to produce heavy snow and blizzard conditions in the Midwest and Great Lakes, freezing rain in New England, thunderstorms and widespread strong winds across the eastern and southern United States.
The storm is expected to intensify as it moves eastward, drawing energy from the sharp clash between cold air blowing south from Canada and unusually warm air remaining in the southern United States, according to the NWS.
This follows thousands of flight delays and cancellations in the northeast and Great Lakes regions due to snow earlier this weekend, as thousands took to the roads and airports during the peak travel period between Christmas and New Year’s.
On the other side of the country, California was experiencing a very dry weekend after severe storms battered the state with heavy rains, flash flooding and mudslides. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department says at least four people were killed Friday, including a man found dead in a partially submerged car near Lancaster.
