Blizzard Warnings As Winter Storm Rocky Hits Central Plains

Winter Storm Rocky is bearing down on the central Plains, forcing cancellations, forcing the closure of highways in the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles and sending work crews scrambling for salt and sand less than a week after Winter Storm Q dumped more than a foot of snow on parts of the region. Forecasters warned of possible tornadoes in the Southeast.

Winter Storm Rocky has already dumped up to 27 inches of snow in the mountains just outside of Denver, and an official total of 9.1 inches at Denver International Airport on Sunday.

As we start the new workweek Rocky is blasting the snow-weary — but also drought-weary — Plains and Midwest with a combination of high winds and heavy snow that’s already closing roads and creating whiteout conditions.

In addition, strong winds to the south of Rocky have caused wind gusts over 60 miles per hour across parts of west and south Texas, leading to blowing dust, downed trees, and tens of thousands of customers losing power in places such as Austin and San Antonio on Monday.

Among the cities that may see accumulating snow Tuesday into Tuesday night are:

– Chicago
– Milwaukee
– Detroit

For the East Coast, Rocky may initially bring rain along the I-95 corridor later Tuesday into Wednesday, with rain changing to snow in the interior Northeast.

Parts of the interior Northeast, especially along the Appalachians, could see an icy wintry mix for a period of time Tuesday into Wednesday. In fact, there is an ice storm warning for some of the higher elevations of eastern West Virginia on Tuesday.

SOURCE Weather Channel