Snow, freezing rain and bitter cold will spread across much of the US. Here’s what you need to know

A major winter storm forecast to produce heavy snow, significant ice and frigid temperatures will begin in the central United States on Saturday and move east over the next few days, according to the National Weather Service.

Here’s what you should know about the storm that is expected to affect millions of people in the eastern two-thirds of the country:

A big winter storm is coming

A large system made landfall along the West Coast on Friday afternoon, bringing rain to the Pacific Northwest and snow expected in the Cascade Mountains, according to forecasters.

The system will be responsible for the development of a major winter storm from the Central Plains to the Mid-Atlantic this weekend into early next week.

Snow will fall in the Central Plains and move eastward

By Saturday night, widespread heavy snow is likely in areas between central Kansas and Indiana, especially along and north of Interstate 70, where there is a high chance of at least 8 inches (20 .3 centimeters).

For places in the region that typically experience the highest snowfall totals, it could be the heaviest snowfall in at least a decade, forecasters said.

The storm will then move into the Ohio Valley, where severe travel disruptions are expected. It will arrive in the Mid-Atlantic states from Sunday to Monday.

Possible blizzard conditions

Wind gusts above 35 mph (56 kph) and heavy snowfall could lead to blizzard conditions, particularly in Kansas and nearby parts of the Central Plains on Sunday morning.

Unclear conditions can make driving dangerous or impossible and increase the risk of becoming stranded.

Freezing rain expected from eastern Kansas to Ozarks

Dangerous sleet and freezing rain, particularly damaging to power lines, are also expected to begin Saturday from eastern Kansas to Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and much of Kentucky and West Virginia.

Hazardous travel conditions are expected, with power outages likely in areas with more than a quarter-inch (half a centimeter) of ice accumulation.

“It’s going to be a disaster, a potential disaster,” said private meteorologist Ryan Maue.

Arctic air will be felt even in South Florida

Starting Monday, hundreds of millions of people in the eastern two-thirds of the country will experience dangerous and chilling air and wind chill, forecasters said.

Temperatures could be 12 to 25 degrees Fahrenheit (7 to 14 degrees Celsius) colder than normal as the polar vortex extends downward from the high Arctic.

“This could lead to the coldest January for the United States since 2011,” AccuWeather director of forecast operations Dan DePodwin said Friday, noting there could be up to a week or more of “temperatures well below the historical average.” .

The biggest drop below normal is likely to be centered in the Ohio Valley, but significant and unusual cold will extend south to the Gulf Coast, said Danny Barandiaran, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center. .

A heavy freeze is even expected in Florida, he added.

“The wind chill is going to be brutal,” said Jennifer Francis, a climate scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Institute. “Just because the planet is warming doesn’t mean these cold snaps are going away.”

Rapid warming of the Arctic may trigger climate

The brutal weather may be caused in part by a rapid warming of the Arctic, a reminder that climate change causes extreme temperatures, said Judah Cohen, director of seasonal forecasting at the private company Atmospheric and Environmental Research.

The polar vortex (ultracold air that spins like a top) usually remains above the North Pole, but sometimes extends to the United States, Europe or Asia, causing intense doses of cold.

Cohen and his colleagues have published several studies showing an increase in the stretching or shifting of the polar vortex. Cohen et al. published a study last month attributing the cold outbreaks in part to changes in an Arctic that is warming four times faster than the rest of the world.