A Major Weather Storm Walloped the Midwest Tuesday and Thursday and Implications for Travel to Central and Eastern United States with Snow and Strong Winds
The cold air will allow for a major winter storm to develop bringing significant impacts to the central and eastern US which could wreck any holiday travel plans this week.
The coast-to-coast storm that walloped the West over the weekend is expected to strengthen as it pushes eastward Tuesday and stall across the central Plains into Thursday, snarling travel and blowing snow.
Thursday: Thursday will be the most difficult day for travel. The storm will hit the Midwest very hard with very strong winds and heavy snow. Western Minnesota will have a lot of different things going on Thursday and Friday.
An enhanced risk of severe weather, level 3 of 5, was issued for eastern Texas and the lower Mississippi River Valley Tuesday, with the main threats including powerful tornadoes, damaging winds, and large hail. Shreveport, Alexandria, and Monroe, Louisiana, are all part of the threatened area.
The greatest flash flooding chance will be from the lower Mississippi Valley into the Gulf Coast and the Tennessee Valley from Tuesday to Wednesday.
There were winter storm warnings stretching from the Canadian border to the Mexican border because of the storm that first hit the Western US.
Weather Warnings for Rapid City, South Dakota, and the Dakotas Over the next few days. Weather advisories for North Dakota, Minnesota, and Nebraska
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.
On roads and highways from Wyoming to Missouri, wind and snow combined to lower visibility, making it was dangerous to drive. Drivers in Colorado and Illinois were urged to avoid traveling if possible.
The National Weather Service said that over 300 million people in the United States were under a winter weather alert on Thursday.
The University of Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Pacific University were closed on Monday due to an “unprecedented amount of snow” in the area.
These areas need the moisture and have seen great relief to drought conditions in the past week. Tennessee, for example, went from 96% of the state under drought to being at 46% this week.
CNN releases a CNN Weather Brief every Monday and this article originally appeared in it. You can get them every week or during storms.
Places that will escape the snow, won’t escape the cold. Areas from eastern Montana through the Dakotas will experience the coldest air beginning Thursday morning. Temperatures will be running 40 degrees below normal for these places. The combination of cold temperatures and windy conditions will send wind chills as low as 50 degrees below zero.
Wind chill advisories exist in a large portion of Montana, the Dakotas, portions of Minnesota and Nebraska where the wind chills can be as low as 60 degrees below zero.
The most widespread weather hazard over the next few days will be the dangerous cold . Wind chill advisories are in place for more than 25 states from the Texas Gulf Coast to the US-Canadian border. The wind chill Wednesday night could drop to minus 70 degrees in parts of Wyoming, a low reading rarely seen in the US.
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.
An Arctic Air Mass that Moves Down to the U.S. for Christmas and Hanukkah: What is Happening at the Blast Cyclones?
Moore says that this one is exceptional, because it is the first time we have ever gotten anarctic air mass that moves down to the continental United States. “It gets a lot further south than these really cold air masses typically get.”
Travel could be life threatening later this week so be prepared to alter travel plans now. The weather service said so.
The National Weather Service in Buffalo is forecasting a “once-in-a- generation” storm. This bomb cyclone is particularly nasty, whipped up by a perfect mess of conditions. A big cold-air mass is moving down from the north. The unlucky result of those systems working together was that many people traveled by plane, train, and automobile for Christmas and Hanukkah.
I-95 has a lot of rain, which can make it difficult for the areas now seeing snow. “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. Some areas were already a given, considering there was snow already on the ground and the cold temperatures keeping it there.
“The probability is normally about 10% that the DC area will have at least one inch of snow on Christmas Day,” Carbin explained. I would be willing to increase that chance up to 30% if the pattern came together the way it was, because it could increase quite a bit here in the next couple of days.
More than 30 million people in the US are under wind chill advisories, including in places that were hit by a storm system last week. The area of Alabama and Tennessee that is under a wind chill watch feel like it will be below zero in a couple of days.
Wind chill advisories are in place for Sioux, South Dakota, and Fargo, North Dakota, Tuesday, when the dangers of frostbite are settling in. It will be 40 degrees below zero with the wind chill.
Snowfall has already begun in Seattle, which is under a winter storm warning Tuesday. While the storm will move east into Idaho Tuesday, it will be followed by another storm that will hit northern and central Montana in the afternoon.
Chicago is forecast to be among the hardest hit cities, as a winter storm watch is in effect for Thursday through Friday. Travelers may not be able to go to celebrate with family or loved ones during the holiday season as a result of the weather conditions.
However, water pipes will be at risk of bursting, the weather service said. A watch for wind chill was put in place 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. “Make sure to cover pipes and let faucets drip!”
There will be a low of minus 14 on Thursday and a high of 47 on Wednesday. That would be the city’s coldest day in 32 years, according to the weather service.
Snow could fall as far south as Jackson, Mississippi, Memphis and Nashville on Thursday. Little to no accumulation is expected for most of the southern cities, however, Nashville could pick up about an inch of snow.
Because of the potential for air travel to be dangerous due to low visibility, many airports across the country have waivers in place for travelers.
The Winter Storm will be Category 3 hurricane, Weather Service and Maryland Governor Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency for the Northern Hemisphere
The weather service has described the storm as a once-in-a-generation event, with it’s pressure expected to be comparable to a Category 3 hurricane as it heads to the Great Lakes.
“This is a case in which snow totals may not tell the whole story. Poor visibility and slick spots on the roads can be caused by a combination of even small snow amounts and very strong wind gusts. The weather service said that the sudden arrivals of these conditions can increase the danger.
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 governor told reporters that the declaration would help ensure that essential supplies like propane could be delivered for both commercial and residential needs.
The temperature is expected to be minus 10 to minus 26 degrees on Saturday with wind gusts expected to reach 40 to 50 mph. Beshear urged residents to stay off roads and 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.
The busy holiday season is making air travel more difficult as more than 1,100 flights have been canceled.
Highway closures and disruptions in the Midwest have been hard during the most difficult day of the week, and the U.A. airports are likely to be busier this holiday season
The road conditions weren’t any better in many areas. Thursday will be the most difficult day for travel due to the heavy snow and strong winds in the Midwest.
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 cars were stuck in the snow under low visibility conditions.
High-pressure systems on each side are propelling the storm, says Moore. “We’re looking at almost record high pressure behind the system,” he says. “It’s kind of squeezed in there between. So it’s making a really strong, sharp temperature decline.”
At one point Thursday at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, delays averaging 159 minutes – almost three hours – were being caused by snow and ice, according to a notice from the Federal Aviation Administration.
The temperature dropped to 9 degrees Fahrenheit around 5 pm local time. There was snow and freezing fog.
De-icing fluid is required for safe travel on departing planes at Dallas Love, Dallas-Fort Worth, Denver and Minneapolis airports.
Flight activity at the La GuardiaAirport may be disrupted later today and Friday by heavy rain and strong winds. Travelers, please confirm flight status with your airline before heading to the airport,” LaGuardia Airport posted on Twitter. John F. Kennedy and Newark Airport also posted similar notices.
The transportation security administration suggests passengers arrive at the airport earlier than usual for those flights who are still scheduled to fly.
The airports are expecting to be more busy this holiday season than they have been in years, according to the federal security director of Reagan National Airport. We’ve already seen some of our busiest days, yesterday and today and we expect maybe Friday 30th ahead of the New Year’s holiday can be also a very busy day.”
Amtrak Cancelation Warning on Bus Intercity Interchange Expeditions: A Traveller’s View of Clear Lake with Greyhound
Maria Ihekwaba told CNN that she was going to travel to Clear Lake with her granddaughter and trying to leave as soon as possible.
When she heard of the impending weather, a traveler from San Diego cut her trip short so she wouldn’t have to deal with it.
She said that she was worried because San Diego doesn’t get these snowstorms. I don’t like it being stuck in the airport for long periods of time.
Greyhound warned customers that their journeys may be delayed or even canceled over the next two days.
More than 12 cities were listed by Greyhound as being impacted by the decision to stop bus service. They also include:
The cities are Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Davenport, Iowa, Denver, Indianapolis and Kansas City. St. Louis, Kansas and Minneapolis were all mentioned.
In its notice, Amtrak said that “customers with reservations on trains that are being modified will typically be accommodated on trains with similar departure times or another day.
The Rockies during a Winter Storm: Addressing the Situations in Kansas City and O’Hare, Midway, and Cheyenne
President Biden spoke to reporters Thursday morning when he saw a map of the national wind chill forecasts. This is not like a snow day when you were a kid. This is serious stuff.
The temperatures in the Rockies plummeted at record paces because of the cold front. On Wednesday night in Cheyenne, Wyo., the temperature dropped more than 30 degrees in just nine minutes.
The officials said they expected the grid to hold up despite the forecast of cold weather and little precipitation because of the winter storm that killed more than 200 people in Texas.
“The grid is ready and reliable,” said Peter Lake, chairman of the state’s Public Utility Commission, in a Wednesday news conference. “We expect to have sufficient generation to meet demand throughout this entire winter weather event.”
City officials stressed that crews were working around the clock to keep flights moving at the city’s major airports, O’Hare and Midway, both of which serve as hubs for major airlines.
The city has more than 350 pieces of snow removal equipment, more than 400,000 gallons of liquid deicer for runways and taxiways, and more than 5,000 tons of salt.
In Kansas City there was only an inch or two of snow. But temperatures were expected to remain below freezing for days, putting a strain on the city’s homeless services.
Several area shelters had added beds this week; still, many reported being at or near capacity. A group of people sought shelter on the streetcar, which was operating after crews had worked to clear the route and platforms.
The library is closed. So it’s only this or the bus, or you go into a parking garage, but you’ll probably get kicked out,” said Pete, who said he did not have a permanent place to live and declined to give his last name to KCUR. “There’s not much you can do.”
Source: https://www.npr.org/2022/12/22/1144970060/winter-storm-holiday-travel
Denver Coliseum: Warming Centers Close to Capacity During Power Outage.us. The Homeless Problem Was Innocent
“We’re very hardy here,” said Lisa Carter, who operates a snowmobile rental business. “We deal with cold like this all the time. We’re not doing anything new because we’re used to it. We don’t go outside.
Hank said that he would keep hay out for his cattle, even though Thursday’s high was expected to be minus 13 degrees.
Additional reporting by NPR’s David Schoper and John Hooks in Butte, as well as KCUR’s own Savannah Hawley-Bates and Ivy Winfrey in Washington, D.C.
Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon told NPR troopers and snowplow drivers had been up all night. “They’ve done a great job and we feel good about our circumstances because we’ve got traffic moving again.”
More than 1.5 million homes and businesses suffered power outages Friday morning, according to PowerOutage.us. States hit the worst include North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee.
Denver has three 24-hour warming centers for anyone who needs a warm place to stay. One of them, the Denver Coliseum, reached far past capacity Wednesday night, accommodating 359 people in a space meant for 225, the city of Denver said. All three centers will remain open through noon on Saturday.
Online conversations about how to get more homeless people off the street in the cold were sparked by the homelessness issue.
“As a public defender, one of the clearest indicators of societal failure was when I’d meet new clients who purposefully got arrested so they’d find some warmth on Rikers Island instead of freezing to death on the street,” Columbia University lecturer and longtime public defender Scott Hechinger wrote on Twitter Wednesday.