Cities are leaping into action as the northern United States is set to be battered by a huge winter storm this week, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
“The major winter storm which will plague a large portion of the country will begin today across the Northwest,” the NWS wrote in a post published to social media on Monday.
From coast to coast, “widespread travel and infrastructure impacts are expected” for “much of this week” due to the “significant snow, sleet, freezing rain, and wind,” they wrote.
After dumping up to several feet of snow on the Pacific Northwest, the storm is likely to hit California and much of the Southwest on Tuesday. As it stretches from Minnesota to Maine on Wednesday, the system could dump up to two feet of snow in the Midwest.
The NWS wrote that “confidence is high that this winter storm will be extremely disruptive to travel, infrastructure, livestock, and recreation in [the] affected areas” because “the combination of heavy snow rates and strong wind gusts may result in blizzard conditions in parts of the West and Midwest,” which could lead to “difficult travel, as well as potential power outages and tree damage.”
In the east, meanwhile, “heavy snow and an icy wintry mix of snow, sleet, and freezing rain will impact the Great Lakes and Northeast late Wednesday and Thursday,” so “treacherous travel conditions are likely” and “scattered power outages [are] possible,” according to NWS meteorologists.
After the storm passes through, “very cold temperatures are expected” to be left in its wake, meaning “record lows and dangerous wind chills [are] possible” and “the potential also exists for a flash freeze in portions of the northern Rockies on Tuesday],” they wrote.
But as their northern neighbors are battered by blizzards this week, states below the Mason-Dixon line are set to experience a heat wave. In the Southeast and mid-Atlantic regions, record-setting temperatures are expected.
Southern cities including Atlanta, New Orleans, and Raleigh are likely to hit the mid-80s this week. If Washington, DC reaches 80 degrees on Thursday – as it’s expected to – it will mark just the third time it’s ever happened during the winter.