Powerful winter storm set to strike Southeast and East Coast, bringing blizzard conditions, flooding

A powerful winter storm is slated to bring major flooding and blizzard conditions to the Southeast and East Coast this week.

The National Weather Service (NWS) warned the storm will “produce widespread, significant impact” to large portions of the U.S. this week. It comes just days after a winter storm walloped the Northeast over the weekend, bringing the first accumulated snow of the season to many parts of the region.

Federal forecasters warned that flooding will be a major issue as the storm moves through the region Tuesday.

“Widespread and potentially significant river and flash flooding are likely for the central Gulf Coast and Eastern U.S. through early Wednesday. Powerful onshore winds will lead to widespread coastal flooding along the eastern Gulf Coast and much of the East Coast,” forecasters said in their discussion post.

According to Accuweather, the snow brought by the weekend storm will likely melt as this new, warmer system moves in. The meteorologists also warned strong winds may damage homes and businesses, causing widespread power outages.

“Initially, the storm is likely to bring a burst of heavy snow and perhaps a period of ice or wintry mix across parts of the central Appalachians and New England for a time on Tuesday,” AccuWeather senior meteorologist Dan Pydynowski said.

“But, the most notable impact from the upcoming storm will be high winds and flooding rainfall,” he added, according to Accuweather.

Some of the region could see 1 to 3 inches of rain from Tuesday to Wednesday. The heavy rainfall combined with a potential rapid melt of the snow on the ground could cause severe flooding from rivers and streams with little notice, Pydynowski noted.

The Southeast will see severe thunderstorms starting Monday night into Tuesday as part of the larger storm system. The NWS said there is a chance of tornadoes for parts of the south heading into Tuesday. 

“There is an Enhanced Risk of Severe Thunderstorms across the central Gulf Coast tonight into early Tuesday morning. Severe thunderstorms capable of producing strong wind gusts and tornadoes are expected from southeast Texas across the central Gulf Coast this afternoon into early Tuesday morning,” the discussion post states.

Federal forecasters also warned a blizzard is expected in the plains of northeast New Mexico, eastern Colorado, the Oklahoma and Texas Panhandles, western Kansas and southwest Nebraska starting on Tuesday. They said travel will “become extremely dangerous to impossible” in the area.