March is expected to come in like a lion as the FOX Forecast Center tracks a potent storm system that will impact millions across the eastern half of the U.S. later this week, posing serious threats of severe weather, heavy snow and ice.
This storm system comes on the heels of an ongoing cross-country storm, which produced severe thunderstorms and tornadoes in the Plains on Sunday and will now bring snow to the Upper Midwest and Northeast through Tuesday.
On the southern and warm side of this storm system, a multiday threat of severe thunderstorms will kick off Wednesday, highlighted by a potential severe weather outbreak brewing for Thursday.
Wednesday’s threat of severe weather will extend from northeastern Texas to the lower Mississippi and Tennessee valleys. According to the FOX Forecast Center, large hail and damaging wind gusts are the main threats.
The severe weather threat will ramp up on Thursday when a severe weather outbreak is possible. As of Monday, the threat extends from portions of East Texas, including the Waco and Houston metros, into the Tennessee Valley and portions of northwestern Georgia.
The FOX Forecast Center believes that it is likely that these severe thunderstorms could last through the overnight hours and continue into Friday.
The highest risk will be seen across East Texas through central and northern Louisiana, southern Arkansas, central and northern Mississippi and western Alabama.
The severe weather threat will advance to the east by Friday.
The FOX Forecast Center believes the highest risk for severe weather will be found across eastern Alabama, Georgia, East Tennessee and into the Carolinas.
The storm will rapidly gear up on Thursday as a powerful low-pressure system forms. As a result, snow is expected to develop where the coldest air will be found across parts of the Texas Panhandle and Kansas.
By Friday, the threat of snow will stretch from Missouri to the Northeast as the low-pressure system moves into a wide swath of cold air. The FOX Forecast Center said the overlapping of the moisture with cold air will likely support a band of heavy snow in some of those areas.
There will also be an area of a mix between snow and freezing rain and sleet across portions of the mid-Atlantic in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
This could also significantly impact travel, but those details will be ironed out in the coming days.
While it’s still too early for specific snow total predictions, it’s becoming more likely that the snow totals could significantly impact travel on the roads and for people hoping to catch flights.
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