Winter Storm Warnings in Place for 22 States

Winter storm warnings are in place for parts of 22 states as meteorologists predict “significant” winter precipitation to fall over the mid-South through to Tuesday and “dangerously cold” temperatures from the Pacific Northwest to the Rust Belt.

The National Weather Service (NWS) issued alerts for Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia and Wyoming.

Blizzard warnings are also in place for parts of northeastern Nevada and northern Alaska.

In its latest forecast, the agency said more than 95 million people were under wind-chill warnings, advisories or watches as an Arctic cold front could hover over the U.S. for several days.

Winds across Montana and the Dakotas are expected to reach minus 70 degrees Fahrenheit on Sunday, while they could be “record-breaking” in the Midwest and deep South late next week.

It comes after the U.S. faced several different storm fronts that carpeted many contiguous states with at least an inch of snowfall.

“The Arctic air in place will also set the stage for significant wintry precipitation to develop over the Mid-South later today with a mess of snow, sleet, and freezing rain all expected,” the NWS said.

“Through Tuesday, the current forecast calls for 3-6 inches of snowfall over portions of the Ozarks into the Tennessee Valley, with a 10th of an inch of ice possible further to the south in the Lower Mississippi Valley.”

A swathe of America from northeastern Texas into southwestern Virginia is currently under winter storm warnings. In northeast Texas and northern Louisiana, 2 inches of snow and sleet is expected with ice accumulations of up to a quarter of an inch.

Across much of Arkansas and into southeastern Oklahoma, snow of up to 6 inches and wind chills of minus 18 degrees Fahrenheit are anticipated. A similar picture is set for southeast Missouri and Tennessee, with wind chills of minus 5 degrees.

Six inches of snow accumulations is also expected in northern Mississippi through to Tuesday, while Georgia is set for 2 inches of snow and ice of up to a 10th of an inch. Northern Alabama could see up to 5 inches of snow, and up to 9 inches, as well as ice from freezing rain in southwest North Carolina.

A cold snap in December 2022 saw a winter freeze as far south as Texas in December, which scientists have attributed to climate change’s effects on weather patterns and which impacted the state’s energy infrastructure. The cold front this year raised fresh concerns about Texas’s power grid.

The NWS said the Arctic blast would maintain heavy lake-effect snow—when a cold air mass moves across long expanses of warmer lake water—downwind of the Great Lakes, which would also bring snow showers to parts of the northeast.

The region has already seen some lake-effect snow this winter, and recently faced another bout of snow brought on by an Alberta Clipper system moving down from Canada.

Up to 3 feet of snow is possible in parts of western and northern New York bordering Lakes Erie and Ontario, with “near blizzard conditions” in places such as Niagara as winds reach 50 miles an hour.

Up to 6 inches of snow accumulations is possible in southwest Michigan, as well as up to 18 inches of snow and 50 mph winds in Vermont.

After another Pacific winter storm dumped more heavy snow on the northwest—after a further two earlier in the week—precipitation is expected to subside in the region, and many storm warnings are set to expire on Sunday morning.

“The same system will produce heavy mountain snowfall in Utah and western Colorado, however, with moderate to major potential winter storm impacts expected today,” the NWS added.

Up to 14 inches of snow accumulation is possible above 7,000 feet in the Lake Tahoe area of Nevada, with 120 mph winds over mountain ridges causing wave heights of up to 6 feet.

As much as 5 feet of snow in the mountains and 30 inches in the valleys of northern and central Utah are anticipated, while up to a foot of snow is possible along the Colorado River Basin. In northern New Mexico, up to 6 inches of snow is expected.