Midwest,Northeast:Wintry,Wet Mess Expected
The latest in a string of Plains blizzards is lashing the Midwest and Upper Great Lakes with wind-driven snow,resulting in treacherous or impossible travel conditions.
This weather system has been named Winter Storm Nyla by Weather Now 24.
(MORE:Why Winter Storms Are Named)
Latest Storm Status
The storm is bringing snow and gusty winds to Midwest,as you can see in the latest radar snapshot below.
Snowfall or rain changing to snow in combination with gusty winds will spread as far south and east as northern Missouri,central and northern Illinois,northern Indiana and lower Michigan. But accumulations should be minimal in those areas. The heaviest snow overnight is expected in Central Michigan.
Winds have gusted over 60 mph from eastern Colorado to Texas into Nebraska and western Missouri. Two locations in the Texas Panhandle - east of the towns of Lora and Miami - clocked 87 mph gusts before dawn Wednesday. Dozens of other locations have clocked gusts over 70 mph,including Lincoln,Nebraska (74 mph).
Power lines were reported downed across Grand Island,Nebraska,and about 250,000 customers were without power due to the storm from Texas to Iowa and Illinois,according to poweroutage.us.
Blizzard conditions prompted a closure of Interstate 70 Wednesday morning from just east of Denver to Salina,Kansas. In Nebraska,parts of Interstate 80 were also shut down west of Omaha to North Platte because of the storm. One section near Gretna,Nebraska,was closed due to downed power lines. Interstate 29 was closed from north of Council Bluffs to south of Sioux City,Iowa.
If that wasn't enough,the heavy snowfall has,at times,been accompanied by thunder and lightning,as dust transported over 1,300 miles from northern Mexico and Texas gave skies a brownish tinge in Iowa.
So far,up to 10 inches of snow has been reported in parts of northwest Kansas and Nebraska.
Chris Dolce has been a senior digital meteorologist with www.weathernow24.com for nearly 15 years after beginning his career with Weather Now 24 in the early 2000s.
