As some Americans emerge from their holiday coma and head to the nation's airports and highways, they may find that the biggest holiday stomach upset has nothing to do with pie. A powerful storm approaches the route home, threatening to ruin post-turkey travel plans.
Some air travelers are already facing travel disruptions, with more than 1,800 U.S. flights canceled as of Saturday. according to at FlightAware, largely due to winter weather in the Midwest.
Most of the disruptions occur in the Windy City, where it snows constantly. More than 1,100 flights arriving and departing from Chicago International Airport were canceled and more than 800 delayed, according to Chicago O'Hare International Airport. FlightAware. About five inches of snow fell at the airport and flights into the airport were delayed for five hours.
A storm that ripped through the Rockies on Friday has grown into a full-blown storm across the country, leaving about 49 million people in the North under a winter weather threat and potentially bringing heavy rain and several inches of snow to more than 1,000 miles of the country this weekend.
The storm opens the door for a new, colder gust cold Arctic air that will cause temperatures to plummet for millions of people just before the calendar turns to December.
The holiday weather has already proven deadly in Minnesota. A 69-year-old man died after being crushed by a snow-covered tree Wednesday morning amid high winds in the town of Alden, about 180 miles northeast of Minneapolis. CNN affiliate WCCO This was reported with reference to the St. Louis County Sheriff's Office.
This post-Turkey Day storm could create similar hazards.
The storm moved into the Pacific Northwest Thursday evening and moved through the Rocky Mountains on Friday.
The storm's center left the Plains early Saturday morning and is forecast to strengthen throughout the day as it moves east through the Midwest. It will bring snow, rain and even some icy mixes to much of the central part of the country.
Rain will fall on the south side of the storm, but snow is forecast on the north side, targeting Nebraska and Kansas, as well as north through the Midwest. Some areas near the transition between mostly snow and mostly rain will deal with an icy mix for a while. As the storm intensifies, the winds will also increase.
Areas east of the Mississippi River will have to deal with the storm on Sunday – snow on the Great Lakes and rain extending across the South – while the middle part of the country will be hit with arctic air from behind.
The storm will move off the East Coast early Monday morning.
By late November, widespread accumulating snow will spread from the Rockies to the Appalachians, becoming the first storm this season to accomplish such a feat.
The heaviest snowfall of the weekend will be in the Midwest. Significant portions of Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan will see more than 6 inches of snow over the next few days.
If the Chicago area receives 8 inches or more of snow from early Saturday morning to early Sunday morning, it will be the city's snowiest two-day period since January 2021.
Snow totals could exceed the one foot mark in parts of eastern Iowa, including Cedar Rapids, and far northwest Illinois. At times, travel in these areas can be nearly impossible due to heavy snowfall.
Early Saturday afternoon, the Iowa State Patrol had already seen traffic accidents begin to rise and had rescued about 200 people from ditches across the state, said Sgt. Alex Dinkla told CNN. “Road conditions are deteriorating very quickly,” he said, noting that state Department of Transportation snowplows are having a hard time clearing roads.
“So if you don't have to travel, please don't and stay home or stay with friends if you can. But if you do have to travel, we want you to take it easy,” Illinois Transportation Secretary Gia Biaggi told CNN's Omar Gimenez on Saturday. “Move slowly and know that it will take us a day or two to even clear the storm.”
A sloppy mix of sleet or freezing snow is possible for parts of eastern Kansas and Nebraska, central Illinois and parts of Indiana. Severe driving conditions are easy to spot when it's snowing, but slippery or slippery roads are harder to spot and are often more dangerous to drive on.
In Indiana, a pileup of 35 cars and 10 semi-trailers closed Interstate 70, a major east-west thoroughfare, for five hours Saturday afternoon near Terre Haute, according to Indiana State Police Sgt. Matt Ames.
“11 people were transported from the interstate by ambulance,” Ames said in an email to CNN. “No serious injuries, just complaints of pain.”
Rain may also disrupt travel south of snow-covered areas. Rain and a few thunderstorms could cause localized flash flooding in parts of the south starting Saturday.
Parts of eastern Texas, including Houston, and western Louisiana could experience flooding Saturday.
Rain will shift to the east on Sunday. This rain is less likely to cause flash flooding problems, but could slow down everyone driving in the area.
A new round of significant temperature drops began Saturday in the Rocky Mountains and Plains as arctic air entered the United States during the storm. High temperatures in the teens and low 20s are likely to occur as far south as Nebraska.
Temperatures will drop to downright cold overnight and early Sunday morning. Low temperatures will be in the single digits across much of the north-central U.S. and dip below freezing as far north as northern Texas.
High temperatures on Sunday will be 15 to 20 degrees cooler than normal for much of the central US. Highs could remain well below freezing in parts of the Midwest, about 30 degrees colder than normal.
The cold air will spread eastward, with most areas of the Lower 48 expected to see overnight low temperatures around freezing or below. On Monday, December 1, temperatures may rise several degrees below freezing in parts of Montana, the Dakotas and the Upper Midwest.
December marks the beginning of meteorological winter – from December to February – and this will certainly be the case in the first week of the season. Monday and Tuesday will remain quite cold for millions of people before temperatures begin to approach normal midweek.
The upcoming Arctic blast could be a harbinger of more cold snaps to come in December due to polar disruption. polar vortex.
