More than a half-million without power from furious cross-country winter storm
At least 25 states experienced impacts from the winter storm system. Minneapolis and several other communities in Minnesota declared a Snow Emergency to help keep roadways clear for snow removal experts.
Coast-to-coast storm shifting into Northeast after blasting Upper Midwest
A multi-day winter storm system that produced blizzard conditions in the Upper Midwest and significant icing through the Great Lakes is expected to slowly wind down Thursday but not before it shifts into the Northeast.
A multi-day winter storm system that produced blizzard conditions in the Upper Midwest and significant icing through the Great Lakes is expected to slowly wind down Thursday but not before interrupting road travel and aviation traffic across the northern tier of the country.
Several communities, including Minneapolis, declared snow emergencies on Wednesday ahead of heavy snow.
Large portions of Interstate 94 from the Plains into Wisconsin were closed due to poor visibilities and crashes.
The combination of wintry precipitation and windy conditions caused more than half a million customers in the region to lose power.
Snow, wind and ice: See the coast-to-coast winter storm slamming millions
A multi-threat, major winter storm has threatened millions of Americans with dangerous heavy snow, blizzard and icing conditions.
Happening now
Snow is ongoing in the Plains, Upper Midwest, Great Lakes and interior Northeast. High winds are overlapping with the snow in parts of the northern Plains, creating whiteout conditions in some locations.
Freezing rain and sleet are also ongoing from Iowa, through Michigan, and into portions of the interior Northeast.
(FOX Weather)
Winter weather alerts
More than 70 million Americans from the West Coast to the East Coast are under some sort of winter weather alerts.
Blizzard Warnings have been issued for parts of seven states in the Rockies, northern Plains and Upper Midwest, including Colorado, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Elsewhere, a variety of Winter Storm Warnings and Winter Weather Advisories stretch from the West to the Upper Midwest, Great Lakes and Northeast.
Ice Storm Warnings are in effect from eastern Iowa to southern Lower Michigan, where the most significant ice accretions are expected from this winter storm.
(FOX Weather)
NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center works around the clock to update the agency’s Winter Storm Severity Index (WSSI), highlighting the severity of the expected impacts from winter storms.
The WSSI is a tool meant to aid in decision-making when snow, ice, wind and freezing temperatures could be disruptive.
Over the next couple of days, "extreme" impacts – the highest category in the WSSI – from this cross-country winter storm are expected across portions of Minnesota.
"Moderate" to "major" impacts can be expected elsewhere across the northern Plains and Upper Midwest.
(FOX Weather)
Thursday forecast
A mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain will linger across portions of upstate New York and New England before tapering off by early Friday. Back to the west, snow will come to an end Thursday afternoon across the Upper Midwest and western Great Lakes.
(FOX Weather)
How much snow is expected?
Northern Plains, Upper Midwest
According to the FOX Forecast Center, there is high confidence that a foot or more of snow could fall across portions of the northern Plains and Upper Midwest, including the possibility of blizzard conditions.
Communities in the Minneapolis metro could see a foot or more of snow from this winter storm.
(FOX Weather)
Northeast
In the Northeast, 5-plus inches of snow is expected across northern portions of upstate New York and northern New England, with lower snowfall amounts south of the New York State Thruway and Massachusetts Turnpike (Interstate 90) because of the mixing with sleet and freezing rain.
More than a foot of snow could pile up in the Adirondacks of New York, Green Mountains of Vermont and White Mountains of New Hampshire.
No snow is expected in the New York City tri-state area or any points south along the Interstate 95 corridor.
Be sure to download the free FOX Weather app and enable notifications to be alerted to any changes in the forecast.
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High winds could lead to blizzard conditions in northern Plains, Upper Midwest
Regardless of the amount of snow that falls, high winds could lead to blizzard conditions in the northern Plains and Upper Midwest, making travel nearly impossible due to near-zero visibility from blowing and drifting snow.
Anyone living or working in the dozens of states affected by this storm should expect road closures, shuttered schools and significant impacts on air travel.
The combination of the high winds and the weight of the snow could also knock down tree limbs and lead to scattered power outages in the region.
(FOX Weather)
How much ice is expected?
As the warmer air overrides the cold air along a front, a relatively narrow corridor of freezing rain and sleet is expected through Thursday.
Significant disruptions because of the ice are possible from Iowa to upstate New York, northern Pennsylvania and western New England.
(FOX Weather)
The greatest threat for up to a quarter-inch of ice accretion will stretch from southern Lower Michigan to parts of western New York, potentially including areas near Detroit and Buffalo.
Between the combination of ice, snow and wind, not only will travel be a nightmare, but power outages will also become a concern for millions of Americans from South Dakota and Minnesota to New York and Pennsylvania.
HOW MUCH ICE IS NEEDED TO KNOCK OUT POWER, DAMAGE TREES?
(FOX Weather)