Weather Forecasts for the Great Lakes and Midwestern Regions during the Last Massive Snowstorm of September 26 – 30 inches in Anchorage, South Dakota

The National Weather Service warns that a major winter storm is expected to bring over a foot of snow to the Midwest and potentially deadly wind chills for millions.

The coast-to-coast storm, which walloped the West over the weekend, is expected to intensify as it moves eastward on Tuesday, and stall across the central plains on Thursday, snarling travel with snow and freezing rain.

The storm will be over the Great Lakes on Friday and continuing to produce heavy snow across much of the Midwest. Portions of Michigan could pick up more than a foot of snow by Friday, making travel impossible at times.

A tornado watch has been issued for parts of Texas and Oklahoma. There is a chance of a couple of tornadoes, hail and wind gusts up to 75 mph.

The greatest flash flooding threat will be from the lower Mississippi Valley to the central Gulf Coast and the Tennessee Valley.

The storm, which first hit the Western US with much-needed snow and rain, resulted in winter storm alerts stretching from the Canadian border to the Mexican border.

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.

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.

The Twin Cities weather service in Minnesota warned residents to be cautious of a potentially dangerous week of weather, with the worst of its effects in the Midwest coming on Wednesday.

“The snowstorms that have hit Anchorage over the last week are historic in nature, bringing anywhere between 30-45 inches of snow to our city,” said Hans Rodvik, a spokesperson for the Anchorage mayor’s office, said in a statement to CNN Monday.

A Break in the Desert: Winter Storms in Tennessee and Amarillo, South Dakota, and Minnesota are forecast for Thursday through Sunday evening

These areas need the moisture and have seen great relief to drought conditions in the past week. Tennessee went from just over one third of the state being in a severe and widespread dry spell to almost 50% this week.

An incredible 60 million Americans, or nearly 20% of the US population, will experience a below-zero temperature with this arctic blast. The cities included are: Denver, Kansas City, St Louis, Minneapolis and Chicago.

The most widespread weather hazard over the next few days will be the dangerous cold . More than 25 states are covered by wind chill warnings, from the Texas Gulf Coast to the US-Canadian border. In parts of Wyoming, the wind chill can be minus 70 degrees and that’s not usually seen in the US.

Wind chill advisories are in place for Sioux, South Dakota, and Fargo, North Dakota, Tuesday, when the dangers of frostbite are settling in. Wind chill, which indicates what the wind feels like, will be as low as 40 degrees below zero.

The air feels so cold, frostbite on exposed skin can occur in under 10 minutes in most of the impacted areas, and some isolated locations in under five minutes, forecasters warn.

Snowfall has already begun in Seattle, which is under a winter storm warning Tuesday. The storm will move east into portions of Idaho Tuesday morning and then spread out across northern and central Montana later in the afternoon.

As the storm moves east this week, it stands to make holiday travel difficult, if not dangerous, in many places, with forecasters urging people to be prepared to make changes.

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. With blizzard conditions likely, holiday travel could grind to a halt for many seeking to celebrate with family and loved ones.

In Texas, the National Weather Service made it a point to reassure residents this week’s unusually cold temperatures are not expected to affect the state as severely as last year’s brutal winter storms, when millions of people lost power during a weeklong extreme weather event in February 2021.

However, water pipes will be at risk of bursting, the weather service said. A wind chill watch for Amarillo, Texas, is in effect from Wednesday night through Friday afternoon.

“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 faucets leak, make sure to cover pipes!

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.

“Whiteout conditions are expected during that time with travel becoming very difficult or impossible,” 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.

Additionally, strong winds may knock out power lines in the Midwest, especially in areas where heavy snow fell last week and is already weighing down tree branches. Millions will find a way to stay warm as temperatures plummet to below freezing.

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.

In anticipation of what will be a week of travel nightmares, United, American, Delta, Southwest and Jet Blue have issued travel waivers for dozens of airports across the country from the South to the Northeast, because in addition to snow covering roadways, low visibility could make air travel dangerous.

Crazy cold temperatures, heavy snow, and strong winds are coming just in time for the holidays, all thanks to a bomb cyclone. It is a frightening name for a type of winter storm that can create dangerous conditions. Forecasters think that this one could be the most significant in terms of scope in years, sending freezing temperatures across Canada and most of the US.

As the storm approaches the Great Lakes it will be considered a “once- in-a-decade” event, according to the weather service.

The Snow and Wind Can Tell Them All, and It Will Prevent Traffic Lights and Slick Spots in the Galactic Center

There is a chance that the snow totals may not tell the whole story. Poor visibility and slick spots on the roads can be caused by even small snow amounts, as well as wind gusts and frigid temperatures. The sudden arrival of these conditions can increase the danger,” the weather service explained.

The Arctic front will push south into the Gulf of Mexico and sweep off the Eastern Seaboard by late Friday, bringing cold into the Deep South. Houston will be below freezing from Thursday evening to Saturday afternoon. The high in Houston this time of year is 64 degrees. Atlanta’s forecast high on Saturday is 25, which would be the coldest on record for a Christmas Eve.

The wind chill is going to be close to minus 25 as the temperature will be around 10 degrees below zero. The high-temperature tomorrow will likely not make it above zero degrees.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency Wednesday, saying, “Communities across the state are about to see temperatures that they haven’t experienced in a decade or more.”

The declaration will help ensure that essential supplies, especially propane, can be delivered for both commercial and residential needs.

The Ohio Governor’s Blast Cyclone: What a Big Cold Air Mass is Making Down from the Top of the World, and How it’s Moving Down

Kentucky governor Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency because of the expected wind gusts of up to 50 mph on Friday and minus 10 to minus 26 degrees wind chills on Saturday. Beshear asked residents to stay off roads and to have a backup heat source.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear also declared states of emergency Wednesday, and Maryland activated emergency response operations ahead of the winter storm.

More than 1,100 flights have been canceled in the US, snarling air travel during the busy holiday season.

Nearly zero visibility on the roads led to many highway closures between Colorado and Wyoming Wednesday and they Wyoming Highway Patrol said it responded to nearly 800 calls for service in a 12-hour period, telling motorists to stay off the roads.

In South Dakota, more than 100 vehicles were stranded on snow-covered roadways under low visibility conditions Wednesday night, the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office said.

There is a storm that the National Weather Service in Buffalo is forecasting. This bomb cyclone is particularly nasty, whipped up by a perfect mess of conditions. There is a big cold-air mass moving down from the top of the world. It’s the unlucky result of those systems working together, and the timing couldn’t be worse, with many people traveling by plane, train, and automobile for Christmas and Hanukkah.

“We typically get Arctic air masses that move down to the continental United States from Canada during the winter, but this one is unprecedented,” says Moore. It gets a lot further south than these cold air mass typically get.

High-pressure systems on each side are propelling the storm, says Moore. He says they are looking at high pressure behind the system. “It’s kind of squeezed in there between. It is making a sharp temperature decline.