A major winter storm is expected to hit parts of the United States with accumulating snow, low temperatures, strong winds, and rain, just as millions of people prepare to travel early on Thanksgiving.
The first widespread winter storm of the season is the second of two storms expected to hit the United States this week.
The initial storm system caused severe weather across the southern Plains and lower Mississippi Valley on Monday, with many Severe Thunderstorms and Tornado Warnings issued in Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana.
According to the Denton County Office of Emergency Management in Texas, high winds pushed over at least two tractor-trailers on Interstate 35, one of which crashed into a pickup truck in Denton.
According to emergency officials, the southbound side of the freeway has been closed while first responders investigate the incident.
When severe weather blew through early Monday morning, a video captured in Weatherford, Oklahoma, showed powerful gusts and copious rain dropping across the region.
A photo shared by the Somervell County, Texas, Fire Department showed a trailer that was blown over onto its side when severe winds swept through the area.
As the storm system advances northward this week, arctic air will combine with it, causing extensive snowfall in the Dakotas and possibly into Minnesota and Wisconsin.
On Tuesday, strong winds are forecast to develop on the western side of the system, reaching 50-60 mph in the Dakotas. The FOX Forecast Center warned that driving along Interstate 29 from Fargo, North Dakota, to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and Interstate 94 from Fargo to Bismarck, North Dakota, might be dangerous as the rain turns to snow.
On Wednesday, areas such as Minneapolis, Green Bay, and Milwaukee in Wisconsin will be on the lookout for snow showers throughout the day as colder air wraps around the storm system.
According to the FOX Forecast Center, the second storm could have a broader impact, particularly as people plan to travel ahead of Thanksgiving.
A major low-pressure system is likely to be built in the Ohio River Valley and Great Lakes region, rapidly developing. This new low will intensify greatly when it spins across the Great Lakes later this week, posing a hazard of high winds throughout the region and into the eastern United States.
As the storm moves into the mid-Atlantic and Northeast toward the end of the week, trailing winds are forecast to bring in enough cold air to support a huge band of snow somewhere in the Ohio River Valley.
The coldest air will blow into the Appalachian Mountains from the system’s southern flank.
According to the FOX Forecast Center, snowfall is expected across areas of the Ohio Valley, the northern mid-Atlantic, and the interior Northeast from the end of the week to the weekend. However, forecasters noted there is still a lot of uncertainty about the amount of cold air available for snowfall.
The National Weather Service has issued Winter Storm Watches for the mountains of eastern West Virginia and the western Maryland Panhandle from Thursday afternoon to Saturday evening.
There is also a risk of lake-effect snow, but it will be hit-or-miss depending on how the low-pressure system moves, according to the FOX Forecast Center. As of now, the air may be too warm to support lake-effect snow.
Download the free FOX Weather app and enable notifications to receive alerts when the forecast changes. The severe weather at the end of the week and into the weekend in the Northeast has the potential to disrupt aviation and road travel just before Thanksgiving travel week begins.
Rain in the Northeast may be heavy at times, but the FOX Forecast Center does not predict flash floods due to the region’s recent record-dry conditions.
However, it brings much-needed rain to the region, which will aid in combating the ongoing wildfire threat.
A massive bomb cyclone connected with a major atmospheric river is forecast to saturate the region from California to Washington this week, potentially causing flooding.
The name “bomb cyclone” is derived from the meteorological terms “bombogenesis” or “explosive cyclogenesis.” This occurs when a storm system’s central pressure lowers by at least 24 millibars within 24 hours.
According to the FOX Forecast Center, a large stream of rainfall is expected to arrive on Tuesday night and last through the end of the week, maybe into the weekend.