Residents across the country from the northern Plains to the tip of Maine are bracing for dangerously low temperatures, as tens of millions of residents along the East Coast face a thick blanket of snow — and more snow is expected.
Winter storm warnings issued by the National Weather Service were in effect for parts of the mid-Atlantic until Monday morning, and warnings began in New England Sunday afternoon.
Heavy lake snow is expected in western New York State Monday into Wednesday morning, with 2 to 3 feet of snow possible in some areas including Oswego along Lake Ontario.
Mark Chenard, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland, predicted that as many as 70 million residents could be under some type of winter storm warning in the coming days.
The return of the Arctic blast
Sunday's snowfall was just the beginning of a week of chaotic weather.
Much of the East Coast will endure some of the coldest temperatures this winter.
The region from the Rockies to the northern Plains will see several days of colder than normal weather, with temperatures expected to drop to between minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit and minus 55 degrees Fahrenheit on Monday.
Subzero wind chills are expected to reach as far south as Oklahoma and the Tennessee Valley.
Minnesotans were urged to dress appropriately and carry a travel survival kit.
Christy Rollwagen, director of homeland security and emergency management for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, also urged motorists to drive with a full tank of gas and a fully charged cell phone to stay in touch with loved ones.
“It's something we've never seen before, and it's just a good reminder that it's cold in Minnesota,” Rohlwagen said.
Meanwhile, temperatures in Washington, D.C., are expected to drop into the 20s with wind gusts over 30 mph, Chenard said.
These expectations prompted the transfer of the inauguration ceremony of President-elect Donald Trump inside the US Capitol Hall.
Like earlier this month, this latest cold snap is the result of a disruption in the polar vortex, a ring of cold air normally trapped around the North Pole.
The cold air will moderate as it moves south and east, but the central and eastern U.S. will still see temperatures in the teens and 20s Monday through Tuesday, Chenard said.
The Mid-Atlantic and Northeast will also have highs in the teens and 20s, lows in the single digits and below zero degrees Fahrenheit, and wind chills below zero.
An unusual mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain
Cold temperatures will drop in the South early this week, where as many as 30 million people starting Monday could see a wintry mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain.
The unusual conditions are expected to extend from Texas to northern Florida and the Carolinas.
Impacts are expected to begin Monday night in Texas and then spread across the Gulf Coast and Southeast Tuesday into Wednesday.
Cold air combined with a low pressure system over the Gulf is behind the storm, which could bring heavy snow just south of the Interstate 20 corridor across northern Louisiana and into Mississippi and a mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain near Interstate 10. The corridor from Houston to Mobile, Alabama.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry on Saturday issued a state of emergency ahead of severe weather, urging residents to prepare and monitor the weather forecast.
