Midwest braces for blizzard with risk of tornadoes in South

Every state in the country has weather advisories this weekend as a major storm moves across the U.S., with the Midwest bracing for an incoming blizzard and dangerously cold temperatures, and the South preparing for tornadoes and power outages.

Blizzard and winter storm warnings have been issued across parts of the West and much of the Midwest beginning Friday, as arctic temperatures move in bringing bitter cold and snow.

Cold air will sweep across the West on Friday, bringing snow with “considerable impacts” in Oregon, Idaho, Nevada and Utah, the National Weather Service (NWS) advised. Wind chills in the Rockies and northern Plains will be below negative 40 degrees.

High winds are expected to increase throughout the weekend and mix with bitter cold and several inches of snow to create life-threatening conditions in Iowa, just days before the Iowa caucuses are set to begin.

Significant snowfall is also expected in Wisconsin and Michigan. Green Bay and parts of Wisconsin along Lake Michigan could get 10 inches to 15 inches of snow and strong winds. The NWS advised people to consider postponing travel Friday and Saturday until the storm passes and said if people must travel, use extreme caution.

Peak snowfall rates in eastern Michigan are expected to be up to an inch per hour Friday evening, with some areas bracing for up to 6 inches total.

Flights have been halted at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport due to the weather, delaying travel by an average of two hours.

As the storm system moves east, it will bring snow to the interior south and mid-Atlantic regions Sunday into Monday and may bring some to the Northeast next week, the NWS predicts. High winds and coastal flooding is also a concern for the East, just days after another storm passed through.

Parts of Texas and the interior Southeast could experience wind chills below zero early next week. The Southwest Power Pool, which oversees electric reliability in 14 states in the region, declared advisories for energy operators ahead of the storm that may bring a “higher than normal risk of outages.”

While the storm will bring heavy snow and cold to parts of the country, the warm side of the storm system will bring damaging winds and tornadoes to the South, The Washington Post predicts. A tornado watch was in effect for parts of Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee.

Parts of Mississippi, north of Jackson, are under an enhanced risk of tornadoes with widespread damaging winds of 60 mph to 80 mph. Numerous downed trees and power lines are expected, the NWS predicts.

The warnings come just days after Florida issued a state of emergency for 49 counties as a storm produced wind gusts and tornadoes exceeding 70 mph.