Winter forecast: Snow expected to follow the ho ho ho, starting in West and blanketing Midwest
Denver, Minneapolis and other cities major airport hubs across the West and Midwest were bracing for likely travel-disrupting storms Wednesday into Thursday.
The disruptions will be due to Winter Storm Eboni, according to the Weather Channel.
Wednesday afternoon, Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer declared a "state of disaster emergency" that he said was in response to the storm will would hit parts of western Kansas.
Even those in the South could face travel delays thanks to rain, severe thunderstorms and flooding.
“There is the potential for major travel disruptions with this storm,” said AccuWeather Long-Range Meteorologist Max Vido.
Snow started in the Mountain States – which include all or parts of Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico – on Christmas Day and was then expected to strengthen east of the Rocky Mountains Wednesday into the evening, AccuWeather reported.
As of Wednesday afternoon, however, no major delays were reported, although some travelers were looking for earlier flights.
"Heavy, wind-swept snow" will also hit from eastern Colorado to North Dakota, central and northern Minnesota and east toward Michigan's Upper Peninsula, said Accuweather.
The storm is expected to dump 8 to 12 inches of snow this week with some areas getting two feet, CNN reported.. CNN said more than 10 million people are in areas with winter weather alerts.
Its already snowing here. Its just the start of the #WinterStormEboni pic.twitter.com/ceBsJFXpn9
— Veronica Frazier (@VeronicaF1980e) December 26, 2018
The Weather Channel said the snowstorm will work its way through the upper Midwest and northern New England through Friday.
"The heaviest snow is expected south and east of Denver, but a coating to an inch of snow late Wednesday may lead to deicing operations and delays on Thursday morning," according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Kristina Pydynowski.
Areas from the northern Oklahoma Panhandle to western Kansas, Nebraska, North and South Dakota, Minnesota, northern Wisconsin, and northern Michigan could experience snow or rain and snow, Live Storm Chasers said. Still, it was unclear what areas would get hit the hardest with snow.
At about midday Wednesday, Edna Ciurleo of Duluth, MInn. was calling it "the calm before #WinterStormEboni" in Duluth, Minn., where she lives.
"Tomorrow this time we could have a full fledged blizzard," she tweeted.
Indeed, the National Weather Service was predicting heavy snow in all of central Minnesota and into northeast Minnesota and far northwest Wisconsin. A wintry mix of rain, snow, and a little freezing rain was forecast for parts of the area but then would change back over to all snow Thursday night into early Friday morning when colder air from Canada moves in. The snow, the weather service said, will slow Friday and linger longest in northwest Wisconsin.
Live Storm Chasers predicted winds would increase through the Plains and upper Midwest, which could lead to "near-blizzard conditions" in parts of the Plains and certainly reduced visibility in areas seeing snow.
Veronica Frazier of Mitchell, South Dakota said on Twitter that she was bracing for the heavy snow with wind that is expected to start Wednesday night and last all day Thursday into Friday.
"#WinterStormEboni ugh," she tweeted.
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Drivers on Interstates 25, 29, 35, 70, 80, 90 and 94 into Friday "should anticipate difficult travel," said Accuweather.
“A swath of wintry mix, including ice, is likely to develop between the Plain rain and snow areas of the Central states,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said. “As with the case of the heaviest snow, the area of wintry mix will depend on the storm's track.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Winter forecast: Snow expected to follow the ho ho ho, starting in West and blanketing Midwest
