Blizzard conditions slam central US as powerful storm brings strong wind gusts and heavy snow.

The same storm responsible for unloading feet of snow on the Sierra Nevada in recent days has turned its snowy side toward the central Rockies, northern Plains and Upper Midwest prior to the end of this week.

The clock is ticking on the winter of 2019-20, but weather conditions on the last day of the season will seem more like the middle of January for an approximately 1,200-mile-long swath of the central United States into Thursday night.

As AccuWeather meteorologists correctly predicted, an all-out blizzard unfolded over portions of Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska and Colorado due to strong winds and a heavy rate of snow.

Blizzard warnings were in effect on Thursday afternoon for eastern portions of Colorado, western portions of Nebraska, and eastern Wyoming. By 5:30 p.m. PDT, nearly 13,000 customers were without power in northeastern Colorado, according to PowerOutage.us.

This image from 2:00 p.m. CDT Thursday shows blizzard warnings in pink and winter storm warnings in dark blue. (NOAA/AccuWeather)

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Travel along portions of Interstate 25, I-70, I-80 and I-90 became difficult and even impossible for a time as temperatures plummeted and heavy snow fell Thursday.

Gusts between 30 and 50 mph caused the snow to blow horizontally and lead to significant drifting of the snow on the ground. At times, conditions made it impossible to distinguish the road from the surrounding landscape.

"From 6-12 inches of snow is forecast in parts of Colorado, Wyoming and western Nebraska, as well as a portion of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. An AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 24 inches is most likely from southeastern Wyoming to northeastern Colorado and the Nebraska Panhandle," Buckingham said.

In parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, northwestern Iowa, southeastern South Dakota and northeastern Nebraska, the storm began as rain. However, as colder air invaded, snowflakes flew and begin to accumulate on grassy areas first and then road surfaces as temperatures fell Thursday night.

Temperatures have plummeted during the latter part of the storm. Lows in the lower teens and single digits F by Friday morning are forecast in the snowfall area. AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures will dip below zero over much of the area that receives snow and in locations farther north over the Rockies and northern Plains.

In addition to conditions turning downright bitter, wet and slushy surfaces are likely to become icy into Friday morning.

The cold air will keep its grip on the region on Friday, the first full day of spring. Spring officially arrives at 10:50 p.m. CDT and 9:50 p.m. MDT Thursday.

The same storm will fuel multiple days of severe weather over portions of the southern Plains and Mississippi Valley into Thursday night.

However, the far-reaching sweep of colder air over much of the eastern two-thirds of the nation in the storm's wake will end the threat of severe weather for at least several days.

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