Millions of Americans woke Wednesday to wild winds and heavy dumps of snow as a massive winter storm assailed communities from one side of the country to the other. The forecast is for more to come.
AP reports blizzard-like conditions to the north are part of a wild 24-hour weather day across the U.S. with wind gusts, combined with snow and rain, forcing closure of a long stretch of interstate highway in the Southwest.
Wind gusts potentially reaching 50mph and a wind chill as low as -50F in some parts are predicted, as Breitbart News reported.
Many schools throughout the Dakotas, Minnesota and Wisconsin were called off for Wednesday as the storm force built.
Offices closed, and so did the Minnesota Legislature. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem shuttered state executive branch offices in several parts of the state while employees were told to work remotely until further notice.
The Minneapolis skyline is viewed Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023. A massive winter storm that will push across the northern U.S. in coming days could dump several feet of snow at higher elevations and bring dangerously cold temperatures, forecasters said Sunday. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
The storm will make its way toward the East Coast later in the week, the AP report sets out. Places that don’t get snow may get dangerous amounts of ice. Forecasters expect up to a half-inch of ice in some areas of southern Michigan, northern Illinois and some eastern states.
Nearly 200,000 Californians have already been left without power as heavy snow and rain combined to defy earlier forecasts.
As Breitbart News reported, San Francisco could see light snowfall on higher elevations near the city — and even flurries within city limits — as another winter storm arrives for the latter half of this week, once again defying expectations of a dry winter.
Much of the state is set to experience plummeting temperatures, high winds, and heavy precipitation. The San Francisco Chronicle notes the Bay Area may also see a “very unusual” snow event, including in the city.
Vehicles pass a warning sign along Interstate Highway 35 near the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport in Minn., on Feb. 21, 2023, ahead of a winter storm that took aim at the Upper Midwest. The storm threatened to bring blizzard conditions, bitterly cold temperatures and 2 feet of snow in a three-day onslaught that could affect more than 40 million Americans. (AP Photo/Trisha Ahmed)
Elsewhere the snowfall could be just as historic, even in regions accustomed to heavy snow.
As much as 25 inches may pile up, with the heaviest amounts falling across east-central Minnesota and west-central Wisconsin, the National Weather Service said. Wind gusts could reach 50 mph and wind chills are expected to hit minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit in some parts of the Dakotas and Minnesota.
The Minneapolis-St. Paul area could see two feet of snow or more for the first time in over 30 years.
A major winter storm will affect a large portion of the country this week. Heavy snow, sleet, and freezing rain is likely across the western and northern tier portions of the United States. Extreme impacts are likely, and historic snowfall is possible near Minneapolis, MN. pic.twitter.com/28hULIrwj9
— NWS Weather Prediction Center (@NWSWPC) February 21, 2023
According to FlightAware data, there have been over 1,000 flight cancellations within, to or from the United States as of 09:10 EST on Wednesday morning.
The National Weather Service (NWS) has warned the storm will be “extremely disruptive” to those in affected areas.
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