Federal Agency Issues Warnings Over ‘Powerful Storm System’
Federal Agency Issues Warnings Over ‘Powerful Storm System’

By Jack Phillips

A​ winter storm will bring snow, ice, and winds to portions of the Midwest and Northeast United States starting Monday and lasting until Tuesday, forecasters say.

“A swath of snow and ice are expected spread across the Upper Midwest, Great Lakes and Northeast today while a secondary low pressure system develops and the pair of surface waves drift slowly toward the East Coast,” the NWS wrote Monday. “Snow totals by Wednesday morning are forecast to be between 4-8 inches from the Upper Midwest to Northeast with locally higher amounts possible,” it added. “Freezing rain accumulations potentially exceeding a tenth of an inch over parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin could cause hazardous driving conditions.”

A map posted Monday morning by the National Weather Service (NWS) show winter storm warnings and advisories were issued across Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine.

A “powerful storm system will affect the Great Lakes, Ohio Valley and Northeast through today,” the agency said. “Severe weather threat across the Ohio Valley and heavy snow for the Upper Midwest, Great Lakes, and into the Northeast” is also possible, the NWS added.

Also Monday, an NWS Twitter account wrote that the “heaviest amounts” of snow will be “confined to the interior” portions of the Northeast region. “Some locations (NYC) that have yet to record 1″ of snow this winter may do so with this storm,” it wrote.

Boston could get 5 inches and a messy Tuesday morning commute, according to the weather service. As much as 10 inches could fall in western Massachusetts, northwest Connecticut and southern Vermont.

The snow totals are nothing extreme for the Northeast, but the weather event could produce the most snow in some areas this winter season.

Other Regions

A tornado touched down Sunday near Liberal, Kansas, the weather service said, and more than a dozen homes were reported damaged, according to KSNW-TV. One person had minor injuries, the station said.

There were reports of nine tornadoes in Kansas, Oklahoma and northwestern Texas, said Bob Oravec, a lead forecaster for the weather service. Weather service teams planned to survey storm damage Monday to determine the strength of the tornadoes.

The severe weather threat remained Monday, with thunderstorms expected to produce damaging gusts across the Ohio Valley, according to the Storm Prediction Center. At least a few tornadoes are were possible, especially across Ohio on Monday afternoon, the center said. The weather service forecast strong winds Monday in Kansas and Missouri, with gusts topping 60 mph.

California, meanwhile, got a brief break from severe weather after a powerful storm a day earlier swelled Los Angeles-area rivers to dangerous levels, flooded roads and dumped snow at elevations as low as about 1,000 feet. The sun came out briefly Sunday in greater Los Angeles, where residents emerged to marvel at mountains to the north and east blanketed in white.

Suburban Santa Clarita, in hills north of Los Angeles, received its first significant snowfall since 1989.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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