A powerful winter storm was sweeping east from the Plains on Sunday, driven by what meteorologists describe as an intense cyclone that is expected to impact much of the US with a mixture of snow, ice, rain and strong winds.
“Part of the storm system is getting heavy snow, other parts of the storm along the cold front are getting higher winds and much colder temperatures as the front passes,” said Bob Oravec, a lead forecaster at the National Weather Service (NWS) office in College Park, Maryland. “They’re all related to each other – different parts of the country will be receiving different effects from this storm.”
Snow and strengthening winds spread Sunday across the upper midwest, where the NWS warned of whiteout conditions and possible blizzard conditions that could make travel impossible in some areas. Snowfall totals were expected to exceed a foot across parts of the upper Great Lakes, with up to 2ft (60cm) possible along the south shore of Lake Superior.