The National Weather Service (NWS) issued Winter Storm Warnings for Alaska and nine other states from the Northwest through the Rocky Mountains.
“The National Weather Service issued alerts for Alaska, Colorado, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming, warning of blowing snow and strong winds,” reports Newsweek. Newsweek went on to quote the NWS, which said:
Snowfall rates of 1-2 inches per hour will move into the Great Basin and central Rockies on Tuesday. These snow rates combined with winds gusting 50-65 mph will produce near-blizzard conditions with significantly reduced visibility and snow-covered roads leading to dangerous travel … widespread snow squalls are expected to develop along the path of the cold front from Utah to Wyoming and Colorado [where] intense snow rates will produce rapid drops in visibility and icing on roadways.
Across parts of Washington state the severe winter storm dropped more than three feet of snow in some areas, with more expected. Heavy snow and whiteout conditions forced authorities there to close Interstate Highway 90 in both directions.
Reporting on the storm, Good Morning America notes that the “cross-country storm” is expected to “slam” a large part of the United States with severe weather. As the storm moves east out of the Rocky Mountains, states in its path can expect it to dump snow, sleet, hail, and rain, depending upon what the temperatures fall to, as it moves across Midwestern states and blows into the North Atlantic seaboard.