A strong storm system will hit the Great Lakes, the Middle Mississippi Valley and areas of the Northeast this weekend, bringing with it “multiple weather hazards,” the National Weather Service (NWS) predicts. The National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center has also issued an “Enhanced Risk” of severe weather in parts of the Central Gulf Coast, the Lower Mississippi Valley and the Tennessee Valley.
Risks of snow, freezing rain and ice
Parts of the Great Lakes downwind of Lake Huron could experience up to a foot of snow, and some parts of Wisconsin off of Lake Michigan may see six to eight inches, per the NWS.
Parts of the Middle Mississippi Valley, the Great Lakes and Northern Maine may experience a mix of freezing rain, sleet and heavy snow. Drive carefully: there could be ice accumulations of 0.25 to 0.50 inches in Michigan and Northern Maine. Northern parts of New York have been issued an “Ice Storm Warning.”
The Pacific Northwest is also expected to experience snow accumulation. Moderate to heavy snow will continue in the Intermountain West and in the Rockies through Monday, and the highest peaks of the Cascades could see over two feet of snow, per the NWS.
Risk of severe thunderstorms
The Central Gulf Coast, the Lower Mississippi Valley and parts of the Great Lakes may also experience severe thunderstorms, heavy rain and flash flooding. Parts of the South have already been hit; at least three people were killed late Friday night and Saturday morning when the storm hit Northwest Louisiana. Storms could continue today in parts of the Gulf Coast and the Southeast, and there is a chance of tornadoes, per the NWS. Eastern Mississippi and Alabama are most at risk for tornadoes.
The storm system will move slowly, which raises the risk of flash flooding. The most vulnerable areas will be urban areas, roads and small streams, per the NWS. In the Tennessee Valley northeastward of the Great Lakes there will likely be one to over three inches of heavy rain. There’s a risk of excessive rainfall from the Lower Mississippi Valley to the Western Ohio Valley and parts of the Great Lakes.
The National Weather Service of Morristown, Tenn., tweeted that some areas of Tennessee have already reported power outages.
Meanwhile other areas of the country will experience near record-breaking warm weather. “[D]aily temperatures will average 10 to 35 degrees warmer than typical early January readings” in areas spanning from the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys into the Northeast, the NWS predicts.
