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Groundhog Day kicks off with a prediction of six more weeks of winter, as a mammoth and perilous storm spans the US with snow and ice from the Southwest to the Northeast; plus, weather alerts and your 3-day forecast.
A massive storm will stretch from the Southwest to the Northeast starting on Wednesday, delivering ice, snow, and dangerously cold temperatures. CNN reported that the storm could be especially crippling for parts of the Midwest and South, with potential power outages and ice accumulation.
“A corridor of heavy ice accumulation [exceeding a quarter of an inch] is likely from Texas through the Ohio Valley,” the Weather Prediction Center of the National Weather Service (NWS) tweeted early Wednesday. “Locations impacted by snow and ice are expected to have temperatures remain below freezing, and well below average for at least a couple of days after the wintry precipitation ends.”
The storm is forecast to affect many of the same areas on both Wednesday and Thursday before moving farther east on Friday.
Here are Wednesday’s weather alerts from the National Weather Service (NWS):
Winter storm warning for portions of Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, and Vermont.
Ice storm warning for portions of Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, and Indiana.
Winter weather advisory for portions of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Illinois, and Michigan.
Built as “the seer of seers, the prognosticator of all prognosticators,” the world-famous groundhog Punxsutawney Phil emerged from his den in Gobbler’s Knob, his stump home in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, and spotted his shadow. The tradition holds that winter will be extended another six weeks, Massachusetts Live reported. However, the groundhog’s forecasts have proven not so accurate in the last decade, only correctly predicting six more weeks of winter once and an early spring thrice.
Apart from the more famous Groundhog Day celebration held in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, New Jersey has its own celebration held in a small community near New Brunswick. Weather predicting Milltown Mel died one day shy of the big weather prediction on Groundhog Day. Milltown Mel passed away on Tuesday, Fox5 NY reported.
Here is your three-day national forecast from the National Weather Service (NWS).
A band of snow and ice will stretch from the Southwest into the Northeast, especially heavy over the Midwest and Ohio Valley. Scattered snow showers in the West over portions of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah, and eastern Arizona.
Thunderstorms along the Gulf for much of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and the Florida Panhandle. Rain for the mid-South and Southeast.
The bands of heavy snow and ice that moved in on Wednesday will hover over much of the same area stretching from Texas to Maine and may be even more impactful, bringing treacherous weather across several states affecting over 100 million people.
Thunderstorms in the South will linger around the Gulf states and could bring potential flash flooding to portions of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, the Florida Panhandle, and southeastern Tennessee.
Snow in the West for portions of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, and New Mexico and in the Midwest over North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and northern Michigan.
The storm system from Wednesday and Thursday dissipates and moves Northeast, bringing snow and ice to portions of the mid-South, mid-Atlantic, and Northeast.
A band of snow will stretch across the northern tier of the US from the West to the Northeast.
Thunderstorms along the Gulf and eastern Atlantic affected portions of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas.
