March storm continues to spread snow from Missouri to Michigan
A strengthening storm continues to produce areas of heavy snow from Missouri to the Great Lakes during the early days of March. Blizzard conditions may unfold in the Upper Midwest on Wednesday.
AccuWeather’s Tony Laubach reports from De Soto, Iowa, as blizzard conditions impact the area on March 4.
The same storm bringing a significant outbreak of severe weather in the eastern United States, as well as flooding in the Northeast, will continue to produce a swath of accumulating snow from the from Missouri to the Upper Midwest on Wednesday, AccuWeather meteorologists warn.
Such a multi-faceted storm is not uncommon for early March, but it will pack a punch, with blizzard conditions even possible in a portion of the Midwest.
After bringing low-elevation rain and mountain snow to California over the weekend, the storm pushed across the Intermountain West on Monday with valley rain showers and mountain snow showers. The storm then emerged from the Rockies, and brought a few inches of snow south of the Denver area and across the Plains on Tuesday.
As the storm took a northeastward track over the central and northern Plains to the Upper Midwest, winds and precipitation intensified. An outbreak of severe thunderstorms, including a few tornadoes on Tuesday, will continue east on Wednesday.
Strong winds with and without thunderstorms will be troublesome and potentially damaging.
On Tuesday night, the swath of snow expanded and shifted from northeastern Colorado to South Dakota and central and western Minnesota.
Given the time of the year, as the spring season thaw progresses farther to the north, areas that pick up drenching rain, with or without thunderstorms, may be prone to urban, small stream and river flooding.
Ice jam flooding and breakup of ice on the lakes and ponds are likely, especially where the rain reaches northward.
Strong winds generated by the strengthening storm will be extensive. The combination of strong winds and thawing ground may cause a number of trees to topple. The risk of power outages may expand beyond the local and regional level by midweek.
At midweek, the heaviest stripe of snow will likely extend from eastern Minnesota and central and northeastern Wisconsin to northern Michigan, central Ontario and central Quebec, where locally over a foot of snow is forecast.
Blizzard conditions may unfold due to the strength of the wind and the rate of snow lowering the visibility in part of this zone. Travel along portions of I-29, 35 and 94 in the Upper Midwest may be difficult.
A significant rapid meltdown of the snow cover is foreseen in the northern tier of the Northeast and in part of the St. Lawrence Valley region of Canada. Dangerous and damaging flash flooding and significant secondary river flooding are concerns.
As cold air sweeps in behind the storm from Wednesday to Thursday, areas may be wet and slushy from the storm and could freeze for a time where winds do not blow surfaces dry.
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