Extreme Weather 2020: Winter Snowstorm Set To Slam Midwest And Northeast

With less than a month left in winter, the Midwest and Northeast regions have at least one more major storm on the way.

Starting as far west as Missouri on Wednesday, the storm will bring significant snowfall all the way to Maine as it moves northeast through Thursday. Advisories from the Plains to New England are expected to be issued by the National Weather Service, affecting 25 million residents.

Snow has already affected a portion of the central U.S., with one death and numerous road accidents reported in Kansas. Parts of Colorado, Nebraska, and South Dakota have also seen snowfall as the storm began.

Cities like Chicago and Detroit are expected to be hit early. The former was forecasted to receive 1-3 inches overnight heading into Wednesday. This was less than initially expected, as the region expected to get dumped with 6-12 inches moved south of the city, affected southern Illinois and northwest Indiana.

Starting Thursday and continuing through Saturday, the northern parts of New York state and New England are forecasted to be hit the hardest. Lake-effect snow is expected to develop as the system moves past the Great Lakes region, increasing the severity of the snowfall in the Northeast region.

“A much cooler air mass will settle in behind the cold front across the East Coast region by Thursday, signaling a cold end to February,” AccuWeather forecasted, also adding the power outages were likely in the region.