Another round of harsh winter weather could hit much of the southeastern United States this weekend, forecasters warned on Jan. 20.
The National Weather Service stated, “an expansive winter storm will produce a swath of heavy snow, sleet, and freezing rain from the Southern Rockies/Plains and Mid-South starting Friday and shifting toward the East Coast through Sunday.”
Americans from El Paso, Texas, and eastern New Mexico—across Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, and the Appalachian mountain to the Atlantic Coast and up to Maine—were told to expect snow through the weekend while the Deep South from San Antonio, Texas, across the Gulf Coast up to the southern corner of North Carolina were told to expect sleet and freezing rain.
Hazardous travel conditions, such as snow-covered roads and reduced visibility—as well as damaged trees and power outages—were to be expected, and extreme cold could prolong the snow and ice on the ground.
Those temperatures in the southeast and Gulf Coast could drop below 20 degrees Fahrenheit by next week as a massive cold arctic front moves down from Canada.
Sub-zero and single-digit temperatures could hit the Northern Plains by Jan. 22, before moving across into the Mid-Mississippi Valley, Ohio Valley, and Northeast the following day.
Along with the temperatures will be wind gusts delivering a dangerous wind chill.
Minnesota and North Dakota could see the wind chill drop to minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit, and nearly all of the Southeast could see the wind chill in the 20s, 10s, or near zero degrees.
“These wind chills will pose a life-threatening risk of hypothermia and frostbite to exposed skin,” the National Weather Service warned.
“Additionally, any power outages caused by a winter storm this weekend could prolong and compound the risk.”
This cold could also be met with an atmospheric river event over Georgia and the Carolinas as moisture is pulled from Texas and other southern states.
“Global models are painting a concerning picture of what this weekend could look like, with an increasingly strong signal for ice storm potential across North Georgia and portions of central Georgia,” according to the National Weather Service’s Atlanta office.
However, it is unclear when the storm will begin to make its impact, and what the true extent of that will be.
“Confidence is high on a storm, but low on the exact storm track, timing, and precipitation amounts,” the National Weather Service said.
“Start preparations now for an impactful winter storm and keep up to date with the latest forecast information at weather.gov.”
This storm comes right behind another cold front that reached across the South, dropping snow on the Florida Panhandle.
