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Winter weather advisories stretched from Colorado to Wisconsin on Monday night as forecasters warned of an early spring storm by midweek that could create blizzard conditions from the northern and central Plains to the Upper Mississippi Valley.
The National Weather Service said a major storm developing Monday night would continue to strengthen Tuesday and into Wednesday as heavy rain in the Pacific Northwest pushes into colder inland areas.
The weather service said the precise track of the storm made it difficult to pinpoint where the worst impacts would be felt. But it said snow was expected to begin falling in the Northern Rockies by Tuesday and to spread into parts of the central United States by Wednesday, continuing into Thursday.
More than 8 inches of snow is likely from southwest Wyoming through northern Nebraska, much of South Dakota and into southern Minnesota, the weather service said — with accumulations of 18 inches or more in isolated areas.
"All of these weather elements mean one thing, a very impactful event," the weather service's Minneapolis office said. "This would include widespread travel impacts, and the anticipating of more river flooding once this all melts in the next week."
The rapid approach of the storm means many areas of the Midwest that basked in sunny, mid-70-degree weather on Monday will likely be shivering under a blanket of snow within 48 hours.
"We're just waiting for these big changes," said Ron Demers, a meteorologist for NBC affiliate KITV of Sioux City, Iowa. "Blizzard conditions are not out of the question, certainly."
Even worse, strong winds accompanying the storm will reach over a wider area into the Southwest and the Southern Plains, with some gusts reaching hurricane force, the weather service said.
"This will result in substantial travel impacts, with travel becoming difficult to impossible Wednesday through Friday" in some parts of the central United States, it said.