Winter storm warnings stretched from Oklahoma to Pennsylvania, while New England and much of the Northeast can expect rain and gusting winds Wednesday and Thursday. The Weather Channel's Mike Seidel reports.
By M. Alex Johnson, NBC News
A major winter storm pummeled large parts of the U.S. on Tuesday, dropping heavy snow on the Southern Plains and spinning off damaging tornadoes in warmer areas southward. Treacherous holiday travel was expected to become even more of an ordeal by the time the storm arrives in the Northeast later this week.
A weather map of the U.S. looked like a child's coloring book, with a variety of advisories, watches and warnings spreading across different regions of the country:
By the time it leaves the New England coast Friday, the storm will have left snow from coast to coast.
The National Weather Service said blizzard conditions were possible in parts of Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky, which could get 4 to 7 inches of snow. Whiteout conditions were forecast for stretches of Interstate 44 in Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas into the evening.
Ten to 15 inches of snow was expected in parts if Indiana. In Indianapolis, Mayor Greg Ballard ordered "non-essential" workers to stay home Wednesday.
Read more from weather.com
With more than 93.3 million people expected to take to the road during the holiday season, according to AAA, many travelers made last-minute changes of plans and decided to hit the road before the snow hit.
Traveling could be tricky in certain parts of the U.S., where blizzards and severe storms are expected to last through the evening on Christmas Day. The Weather Channel's Paul Goodloe reports.
"We're hoping to make it there in time before that weather hits," said James Mason, who was driving home Tuesday to Missouri with his wife and three children through Indiana.
"We don't want to get caught up in it. That is when accidents happen and people get stranded," he told NBC station WTHR of Indianapolis during a rest stop in Plainfield, Ind.
"You definitely have to worry about everyone while you're driving, especially out here," Dallas resident Jerdal Whitaker told NBC 5 of Dallas. "We're not used to the weather that comes, especially when it's ugly, so you definitely have to drive slow."
Travel delays could persist into Thursday morning along the East Coast because of "low clouds, wind, and potential changeover to light snow," weather.com reported.
Almost 400 U.S. flights had already been canceled by 7 p.m. ET, the travel site flightaware.com reported. Many of them — 160 by 5:30 p.m. ET — were into and out of Dallas, where as much as 3 inches of snow fell Tuesday, NBC 5 of Dallas reported.
In weatherese, what happened is that a low-pressure system intensified as it moved across the Southern Plains toward the Lower Mississippi Valley on Tuesday, pulling in arctic air from the north and the west to mix with warmer, wetter air in the southern half of the country, the National Weather Service said.
The system is forecast to track east-northeast, getting stronger by the hour, through Thursday as it moves into the Mid-Atlantic. From there, snow and freezing rain are expected to spread quickly northeast, reaching New England by Thursday morning. As much as a foot of snow was forecast later in the week across western and upstate New York.
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By M. Alex Johnson, NBC News
A major winter storm pummeled large parts of the U.S. on Tuesday, dropping heavy snow on the Southern Plains and spinning off damaging tornadoes in warmer areas southward. Treacherous holiday travel was expected to become even more of an ordeal by the time the storm arrives in the Northeast later this week.
A weather map of the U.S. looked like a child's coloring book, with a variety of advisories, watches and warnings spreading across different regions of the country:
- Blizzard warnings were in force for parts of Texas and Oklahoma. High winds toppled a tree onto a pickup truck in the Houston area, killing the driver, while 21 cars and tractor-trailers crashed in a massive pileup on roads coated with freezing rain in Oklahoma City.
- Winter storm warnings stretched from those states north and east to Arkansas and Ohio.
- Tornado watches and warnings dotted the Deep South, where a twister damaged at least seven homes Tuesday near McNeill, Miss., emergency officials told NBC News. Tornadoes were also reported to have touched down in Houston; near Ledoux, La.; and in Mobile, Ala.
By the time it leaves the New England coast Friday, the storm will have left snow from coast to coast.
The National Weather Service said blizzard conditions were possible in parts of Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky, which could get 4 to 7 inches of snow. Whiteout conditions were forecast for stretches of Interstate 44 in Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas into the evening.
Ten to 15 inches of snow was expected in parts if Indiana. In Indianapolis, Mayor Greg Ballard ordered "non-essential" workers to stay home Wednesday.
Read more from weather.com
With more than 93.3 million people expected to take to the road during the holiday season, according to AAA, many travelers made last-minute changes of plans and decided to hit the road before the snow hit.
Traveling could be tricky in certain parts of the U.S., where blizzards and severe storms are expected to last through the evening on Christmas Day. The Weather Channel's Paul Goodloe reports.
"We're hoping to make it there in time before that weather hits," said James Mason, who was driving home Tuesday to Missouri with his wife and three children through Indiana.
"We don't want to get caught up in it. That is when accidents happen and people get stranded," he told NBC station WTHR of Indianapolis during a rest stop in Plainfield, Ind.
"You definitely have to worry about everyone while you're driving, especially out here," Dallas resident Jerdal Whitaker told NBC 5 of Dallas. "We're not used to the weather that comes, especially when it's ugly, so you definitely have to drive slow."
Travel delays could persist into Thursday morning along the East Coast because of "low clouds, wind, and potential changeover to light snow," weather.com reported.
Almost 400 U.S. flights had already been canceled by 7 p.m. ET, the travel site flightaware.com reported. Many of them — 160 by 5:30 p.m. ET — were into and out of Dallas, where as much as 3 inches of snow fell Tuesday, NBC 5 of Dallas reported.
In weatherese, what happened is that a low-pressure system intensified as it moved across the Southern Plains toward the Lower Mississippi Valley on Tuesday, pulling in arctic air from the north and the west to mix with warmer, wetter air in the southern half of the country, the National Weather Service said.
The system is forecast to track east-northeast, getting stronger by the hour, through Thursday as it moves into the Mid-Atlantic. From there, snow and freezing rain are expected to spread quickly northeast, reaching New England by Thursday morning. As much as a foot of snow was forecast later in the week across western and upstate New York.
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