A series of extreme events from multiple hurricanes will result in heavy snowfall and temperatures as low as 40°C below zero across the United States. Virtually the entire continental United States will experience extremes such as excessive rain, tornadoes, severe storms, blizzards, and exceptional cold. | JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/METSUL METEOROLOGY
In the next seven to ten days, weather conditions classified by US meteorologists as “wild” are expected in the North American territory, with a series of hurricanes, a bomb cyclone that will form in the center of the country, strong to severe snowstorms , extreme rain, flooding, a wave of tornadoes and an absurdly powerful outbreak of arctic polar air.
Initially, a severe storm is expected to hit the central and southern United States, bringing a mix of heavy snow, strong to damaging winds, severe thunderstorms on the Gulf Coast and widespread flooding in the east and northeast of the country. Additionally, a major winter storm will bring several feet of snow to Washington and Oregon.
A deep depression is moving across the Central Plains and will bring a lot of snow to the state of Kansas this Monday. The snowfall will be accompanied by wind gusts of over 100 km/h, meaning there will be almost no visibility in some places.
Residents of Kansas, northeastern New Mexico, eastern Colorado, Oklahoma, northern Texas and southwestern Nebraska are being warned of extremely dangerous or even “impossible” road conditions. It is recommended to have winter survival gear with you as the sensation of heat is likely to drop to extreme levels.
Dodge City, KS ❄️🥶@foxweather pic.twitter.com/zVUUW9iTv8
— Mark Sudduth (@hurricanetrack) January 8, 2024
The shift in low pressure creates a strong line of instability that will trigger widespread severe storms across the south and southeastern United States, in states such as Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia and Florida. Local meteorologists warn that this is a very dangerous situation and that storms with great potential for destruction and tornadoes could occur.
The low pressure will then bring extreme rainfall to the East Coast of the United States, causing very large amounts in several states. Flood warnings are in place for thousands of cities and coastal flooding areas. The rain will be accompanied by very strong winds, reaching speeds of 100 km/h to 150 km/h in several locations, and could leave millions of people in northeastern and eastern North America without power.
There is a MODERATE risk in our Day 2 Excessive Rainfall Outlook. More details: https://t.co/FQU5sbmsxo pic.twitter.com/ltAQw6tjnd
— NWS Weather Prediction Center (@NWSWPC) January 8, 2024
As if that weren't enough, two more major winter storm systems will enter and move into the northwestern United States, bringing several feet of heavy snow and strong winds to the mountains. Residents of affected regions are being urged to prepare for a range of serious illnesses.
“Over the next few weeks, a rapid succession of large, midlatitude hurricanes will sweep across the central and eastern United States, bringing wild weather ranging from tornadoes to blizzards,” Yale University meteorologist Bob Henson wrote in the analysis.
According to Henson, an atypically intense polar jet stream mixed with disturbances and frontal systems propagating through it will produce the extreme conditions. He emphasizes that El Niño often brings more snow in the southwestern United States and more severe winter weather in the south of the country.
Models suggest a bomb cyclone will form in the interior of the continent, in the Midwest region, over the weekend. The pressure could drop to 960 hPa. Next, an extraordinarily strong polar air mass would invade from the Arctic.
The strong winter storm is modeled to “quickly develop into a rare “bomb cyclone” over land on Friday and Saturday.
Minimum storm pressure > barometer exceeds 968 mb
The record is the Cleveland Superbomb of January 1978 (Great Blizzard)
Likely snowstorm for millions of people in Michigan… pic.twitter.com/BaSF7IDbZB
— Ryan Maue (@RyanMaue) January 8, 2024
Longrange models are increasingly pointing to an intrusion of Arctic air next week, from the northwestern United States into the plains and then eastward, as a result of the stratospheric polar vortex shifting southward. There is data indicating temperatures 40°C below normal for the northern Central Plains.
The modeling data confirms that the United States will experience very extreme cold in several states next week, with lows of 30°C to 40°C possible in some states. According to the simulation, the bitter cold could even reach states with warmer climates such as Florida.
This second winter storm could be even stronger than the one now beginning, with a new round of extreme conditions including severe storms and the threat of tornadoes in the South, snow and blizzards in parts of the Midwest, and torrential rain with wind in the South East, what leading to further flooding and power outages.
A core of cooler air compared to typical air is expected from Montana to North Texas over the weekend, gradually moving toward the Midwest and Great Lakes early next week, following the cyclone. Temperatures as low as minus 40°C are forecast near the USCanada border on Saturday.
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