Winter storm warnings are in place for parts of 17 states as "dangerously" cold temperatures are set to continue across much of the U.S., with heavy snow expected for the southeast and Great Lakes.
The National Weather Service (NWS) issued alerts for Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, the Virginias and Wyoming.
Hard freeze warnings are also in place for southeastern Texas and southwestern Louisiana, as temperatures as low as 9 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 13 degrees Celsius) are expected to cause a frost that will kill crops and potentially damage outdoor plumbing.
Wind chill advisories cover a swathe of the central U.S. from Montana to Michigan, to the Texas panhandle, as cold wind gusts raise the threat of frostbite on exposed skin.
On Friday, the meteorological agency predicted the arrival of an Arctic blast over the weekend, which it later anticipated would persist until at least Tuesday.
In its latest forecast, the agency said "brutally cold" temperatures were expected to continue through Tuesday before another Arctic blast arrives later in the week from Canada, "which could lead to more of the same dangerous cold weather across the Midwest and Deep South by the end of the work week."
At the same time, the NWS said the "frigid air mass" was also facilitating the continued effects of hazardous winter weather, following several different storm fronts last week that carpeted many contiguous states with at least an inch of snowfall.
A "mix of snow, sleet, and freezing rain" will fall across the south before moving into the Appalachians and mid-Atlantic—including Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York—from Monday into Tuesday.
A tenth of an inch of ice is expected in parts of south-central Texas, while northeastern Texas and southeast Oklahoma could see around half an inch of sleet and an inch of snow, as well as ice accumulations.
Snow and sleet of up to an inch are anticipated in southern Arkansas, with winds of minus 5 F. Similar conditions are expected for northern Louisiana and Mississippi, with locally higher ice accumulations.
Four inches of snow and a tenth of an inch of ice are expected across northern Alabama and into Tennessee, where wind chills could reach minus 10 F and snow accumulations could total eight inches in parts.
Far northwestern Georgia will see a wintry mix of snow, sleet and rain causing two-tenths of an inch of ice, with up to eight inches of snow along North Carolina's border with Tennessee. Eight inches of snow is also predicted for southeastern Kentucky, with higher amounts at elevations above 1,500 feet.
Between four and eight inches of snow is expected in western regions of the Virginias, where winds will dip below zero, which could lead to hypothermia.
A cold snap in December 2022 saw a winter freeze as far south as Texas in December, which scientists have attributed to climate change's effects on weather patterns and which impacted the state's energy infrastructure. The cold front this year has raised fresh concerns about Texas's power grid.
The NWS said the Arctic blast would maintain heavy lake-effect snow—when a cold air mass moves across long expanses of warmer lake water—downwind of the Great Lakes into Wednesday.
The region has already seen some lake-effect snow this winter, and recently faced another bout of snow brought on by an Alberta Clipper system moving down from Canada.
As much as three feet of snow is possible in parts of western New York, where blowing and drifting snow will make travel difficult to impossible and reduce visibility.
Snow in mountain regions of western central states continues to persist after a winter storm brought blizzard conditions to the region earlier last week.
Additional accumulations of up to three inches are expected in southeastern Wyoming, rising to a further foot in the Sierra Madre and Snowy Mountain ranges. Wind chills of minus 40 degrees are also anticipated.
Up to six inches of snow is predicted for eastern parts of Colorado, with winds reaching 50 miles per hour. Up to five inches of snow is expected in mountain regions of central Utah, with wind gusts in excess of 55 miles per hour.
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Aleks Phillips is a Newsweek U.S. News Reporter based in London. His focus is on U.S. politics and the environment. ... Read more
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