The major winter storm continues through Tuesday over the Central Plains into the Upper Mississippi Valley.
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Snow and strong winds will continue from the Central Plains to northern Minnesota through Monday night, along with sleet and freezing rain in parts of the Upper Mississippi Valley.
In addition, hazardous impacts will be snow, icing, and wind.
Blowing and falling snow will significantly reduce visibility, and blizzard conditions will persist into Tuesday across portions of the Plains and northern Minnesota.
Travel may be very difficult or impossible at times.
Power outages and tree damage are possible in some areas due to heavy snow, icing, and strong winds.
Also, plan on slippery roads.
Moreover, snow and winds will gradually diminish from southwest to northeast across the region, with gradual improvement on Tuesday.
However, areas of blowing snow may persist as snow lingers into Wednesday over parts of the Upper Great Lakes.
Meanwhile, the front associated with the storm extends from the Middle Mississippi Valley/Southern Plains and moves eastward to the lower Great Lakes into the Central Gulf Coast by Wednesday evening.
The system will create showers and severe thunderstorms over the Lower Mississippi Valley.
Therefore, the SPC has issued an Enhanced Risk (level 3/5) of severe thunderstorms over parts of the Lower Mississippi Valley through Tuesday morning.
The hazards associated with these thunderstorms are frequent lightning, severe thunderstorm wind gusts, hail, and a few tornadoes.
Additionally, there is an increased threat of EF2 to EF5 tornados over the area.
In addition, the showers and thunderstorms will produce heavy rain over parts of the Middle/Lower Mississippi and Tennessee Valleys.
Therefore, the WPC has issued a Slight Risk (level 2/4) of excessive rainfall over parts of the Middle/Lower Mississippi and Tennessee Valleys through Tuesday morning.
The associated heavy rain will create mainly localized areas of flash flooding, with urban areas, roads, and small streams the most vulnerable.
By Tuesday, the threat of severe thunderstorms decreases slightly to a Marginal Risk over parts of the Great Lakes/Ohio Valley, with a Slight Risk of severe thunderstorms over parts of the Central Gulf Coast.
Therefore, the SPC has issued a Slight Risk (level 2/5) of severe thunderstorms over parts of the Central Gulf Coast from Tuesday through Wednesday morning.
The hazards associated with these thunderstorms are frequent lightning, severe thunderstorm wind gusts, a few tornadoes, and a minimal threat of hail.
Similarly, the showers and thunderstorms will create heavy rain over parts of the Central/Eastern Gulf Coast.
Therefore, the WPC has issued a Slight Risk (level 2/4) of excessive rainfall over parts of the Central/Eastern Gulf Coast on Tuesday through Wednesday morning.
The associated heavy rain will create mainly localized areas of flash flooding, with urban areas, roads, and small streams the most vulnerable.
On Wednesday, the threat of severe thunderstorms ends.
However, the threat of excessive rainfall continues over parts of the Eastern Gulf Coast and Southeast.
Therefore, the WPC has issued a Slight Risk (level 2/4) of excessive rainfall over parts of the Eastern Gulf Coast and Southeast on Wednesday.
The associated heavy rain will create mainly localized areas of flash flooding, with urban areas, roads, and small streams the most vulnerable.
Elsewhere, from Tuesday evening into Wednesday, moisture from the Atlantic will move onshore over New England, bringing warmer temperatures and trapping cold air in the interior of Northern New England.
The warm, moist air will create rain/freezing rain over parts of Northern New England from Tuesday evening into Wednesday.
Furthermore, a deep upper-level trough will extend across the western portions of the U.S.
aiding in the development lower-elevation rain and higher-elevation snow will extend from the Pacific Northwest to Southwest, and Southern Rockies through Tuesday evening.
However, a surge of energy moving into the Northwest will produce rain and higher-elevation snow over parts of Northern California on Wednesday. ■