Much of the United States will face heavy snow, freezing temperatures and dangerous wind chills this week, likely causing flight delays and impassable roads during one of the busiest travel periods of the year.
The National Weather Service is forecasting possibly dangerous weather conditions by midweek, stretching from the Northwestern and Great Plains regions of the country to the central and southern Appalachian Mountains.
“With such a large and powerful storm system … it is imperative that travelers check the latest forecast before venturing out,” the service said in a short-term forecast posted on its website Tuesday.
A surge of Arctic air crossing the country behind a cold front is expected to create blizzard conditions in parts of the Plains and Great Lakes region, while a flash freeze could be in store from the Mid-South to the East Coast. , according to the Service.
Residents of the affected areas worried on social media about travel disruptions, the possibility of being stuck in their homes and the plight of their homeless neighbors.
“It is inconceivable that we would have people living without shelter in Chicago winters, let alone during a Christmas blizzard,” Twitter user @laurie_merrell posted Tuesday morning.
Heavy snowfall is also likely in the northern Rocky Mountains and Pacific Northwest, with the heaviest snowfall expected in the higher terrain of the Cascade Mountains, northern Idaho, northwestern Montana, and western Wyoming. the National Weather Service said.
Winter storms in the United States have moved northward and increased in frequency and intensity over the past 70 years, according to the US Global Change Research Program.
Snowstorms are expected to drop larger volumes of snow as a result of climate change, according to the Environmental Defense Fund, because the planet evaporates more water into the atmosphere as it warms, leading to more precipitation overall.