A brutal winter storm packing wind gusts of up to 80 mph moved inland Monday, threatening to blanket parts of the nation with feet of snow.
About 15 million people in more than a dozen states faced severe weather warnings or watches on Monday. Blizzard or winter storm warnings were in effect for parts of Oregon, Nevada, Idaho, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado and Nebraska.
“This system will linger over the Central Plains through Thursday, bringing several days of heavy snow and sleet conditions with blowing snow, and freezing rain spreading across the upper Midwest,” the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center said in its advisory. “Thunderstorms, storms and flooding are possible in the south.”
Pockets of those states could see up to 2 feet of snow, the center said. The Colorado Weather Service says the storm will arrive late Monday and last through Tuesday, possibly with “whiteout conditions” and road closures.
“Heavy snow accumulations are likely in some areas, which combined with strong winds will produce nearly impossible travel,” the forecast center warned.
The storm took aim at the heart of the country after parts of Southern California dumped more than 7 inches of rain and up to 5 feet of snow on the Golden State’s mountains. More than 6,000 American flights were delayed Sunday, and another 2,300 were delayed by 2 p.m. EST Monday.
AccuWeather forecasters expect more than a foot of snow, strong winds and blizzard conditions to begin this week across the Northern Plains before dumping substantial amounts of snow across broad swathes of the Midwest.
The National Weather Service defines a blizzard as “blowing and/or falling snow with winds of at least 35 mph, reducing visibility to one-quarter mile or less for at least three hours.”