Winter Weather Live Updates: Arctic Blast Sweeps Eastern U.S. Bringing Heavy Snow

The eastern half of the U.S. is facing an intense arctic blast, stretching from Minnesota to northern Florida and up to New England. The cold front brought lake-effect snow, dumping 3.5 feet of snow in western New York and up to 20 inches in northern Lower Michigan. Winds gusted to nearly 40 mph, creating dangerous whiteout conditions. A Lake-Effect Snow Warning remained in effect Friday morning for Ohio, Pennsylvania, and western New York, where an additional 6 to 12 inches of snow is possible. Wind chills early Friday were below zero in Minneapolis, near zero in Chicago, and in the teens in the Northeast. In the Southeast, temperatures were near freezing, with a Frost Advisory in place for northern Florida and southern Georgia. Meanwhile, a new storm system is moving into the Plains and Midwest, bringing freezing rain and icy conditions. Ice Storm Warnings have been issued for Iowa, while Icy Alerts stretch from Kansas to Minnesota. The icy conditions, expected to last through Saturday morning, could glaze roads, creating hazardous driving conditions. Des Moines, Minneapolis, and Omaha are among the cities under alerts, and travel is strongly discouraged. In the West, a series of storms is set to bring heavy snow and rain through the weekend. A storm already affecting California’s Sierra Nevada mountains has dumped up to half a foot of snow, causing accidents and traffic backups on I-80. A new, stronger storm is expected to hit later Friday, bringing heavy rain and mountain snow from Washington to California. Winter Storm Warnings have been issued for the California mountains, where up to 4 feet of snow is possible. Northern California could also see up to 5 inches of rain, with a Flood Watch in effect for the region.

Follow Newsweek’s live blog for updates.

Atmospheric river set to ‘wallop’ western US: What we know

A pair of storms and accompanying atmospheric river are set to deliver heavy rain, mountain snow and strong winds to the Western United States from Friday into Saturday.

This weather system, described by meteorologists as a “river in the sky,” will bring significant impacts to California, Oregon and Washington.

The National Weather Service (NWS) and AccuWeather have issued warnings for potential flooding, power outages and hazardous travel conditions as the storms “wallop” the coast.

Atmospheric rivers are narrow bands of concentrated water vapor that carry immense amounts of moisture from tropical regions to higher latitudes. According to the NWS, these systems can transport as much as 15 times the water vapor as the Mississippi River carries in liquid form.

Read the full story by Tom Howarth on Newsweek.