A dangerous blizzard could become a bomb cyclone as it wallops the Midwest and Great Lakes later this week, with damaging winds also spreading toward the East Coast and creating a travel nightmare for millions ahead of the Christmas holiday weekend.
The winter storm will also usher in bitterly cold, potentially life-threatening temperatures that will spawn a widespread flash freeze in the Midwest and East as heavy rain is followed by temperatures rapidly falling below freezing all the way to Florida and along the Gulf Coast.
Winter Storm Watches, Winter Storm Warnings and Winter Weather Advisories have been issued by the National Weather Service from the Pacific Northwest eastward to the Plains and Midwest. Seattle is among the cities under a Winter Weather Advisory, while Chicago, Indianapolis, Milwaukee and Minneapolis-St. Paul are included in the Winter Storm Watches.
The first impacts from this winter storm will be felt across the Pacific Northwest and northern Rockies on Tuesday as snow overspreads the region ahead of the arctic cold front.
Snow was ongoing Tuesday morning along the Interstate 5 corridor in Washington, including the Seattle metro area. Between 2 and 4 inches of snow is expected in downtown Seattle, while 1 to 2 feet is predicted in the higher elevations of the Olympics and Cascades.
Slippery, snow-covered roads will make for hazardous travel into Tuesday night.
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As the powerful arctic front plows south and eastward on Wednesday, the winter storm will reach the central Rockies and northern Plains, where conditions will rapidly deteriorate.
Along the front, dangerous snow squalls will produce sudden whiteout conditions as snowfall rates of an inch or more per hour combine with 40- to 60-mph wind gusts, leading to blizzard or near-blizzard conditions.
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While only a few inches of snow is expected, the wind will keep blowing around the powdery snow, which means blizzard or near-blizzard conditions are likely to continue right through Thursday night. Travel will be nearly impossible during this time.
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Additionally, the strong winds will create wind chills between minus 20 and minus 40 degrees, making conditions even more life-threatening for anyone caught outside.
On Thursday, the winter storm will begin its explosive intensification over the Midwest. Areas of heavy snow and rain will quickly change over to all snow, with high winds spawning blizzard or near-blizzard conditions that will expand across the Midwest as the arctic front plows eastward.
The change in weather will be dramatic with the passage of the arctic front. Temperatures will drop about 40 degrees in less than 6 hours, causing the rain to rapidly change to snow with a widespread flash freeze developing as any standing water turns to black ice.
Extremely dangerous travel conditions are expected from the central Plains to the Upper Midwest because of the heavy snow, high winds and icy roads.
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Farther east, a wintry mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain will develop in the interior Northeast on Thursday morning, but warmer air moving in throughout the day will change the precipitation over to plain rain in most areas later Thursday, though the wintry mix will likely persist in northern New England.
The Interstate 95 corridor will see all rain from this storm.
The winter storm will reach its peak intensity on Friday over the Great Lakes. Blizzard conditions will likely snarl travel from eastern Wisconsin and eastern Illinois to portions of Michigan, Indiana and Ohio, where snow will overlap with 40- to 80-mph wind gusts as wind chills plunge into the minus 20s.
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This could be a life-threatening situation for those who lose power due to the high winds.
To the east on the warmer side of the storm, significant impacts are still expected along the East Coast even in the absence of blizzard conditions.
A windswept rain is expected across the mid-Atlantic and Northeast on Friday as damaging winds blast the region with widespread 60-plus-mph gusts. Some gusts over 70 mph cannot be ruled out as the arctic cold front plows through the East from Friday into Friday night.
In both the Great Lakes and East, at least scattered power outages are likely, and more widespread outages are possible in areas that see the highest wind gusts.
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Even after the rain ends, the dangers will not. Rapidly dropping temperatures will lead to a widespread flash freeze of any standing water that remains on the roads, causing dangerous travel conditions from Friday night into at least Saturday.
Additionally, for the immediate East Coast, strong onshore winds will lead to a significant coastal flooding threat along south-facing coastlines, especially during the Friday morning high tide.
On Christmas Eve, the winter storm will quickly exit into eastern Canada, but high winds will continue to impact the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes. As a result, localized, but intense lake-effect snow bands are expected to develop to the east and southeast of all the Great Lakes and dump heavy snowfall in those areas through Christmas Day.
The gusty winds will also continue to produce dangerously cold wind chills throughout Christmas weekend, which could be a serious threat to anyone who remains without power.
Snowfall totals from this winter storm are expected to be highest in the western Great Lakes region, where up to a foot of snow could pile up due to enhancement from lakes Superior and Michigan. This includes portions of Wisconsin, northeastern Illinois, Michigan and northern Indiana.
Meanwhile, at least a half-foot of snow could blanket a large area from parts of Minnesota, Iowa and Missouri eastward to central Indiana and northern Ohio.
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It’s not out of the question that a light dusting of snow could slicken roads as far south as northern and eastern Oklahoma, northern Arkansas and portions of Tennessee.
Accumulations in the interior Northeast will likely be under 6 inches in most areas before the changeover to rain late Thursday and after the passage of the arctic cold front on Friday. However, locally higher totals are expected in northern Maine, where the precipitation will remain snow the longest, and in the Great Lakes snowbelts from the bands of lake-effect snow throughout Christmas weekend.