A major winter storm with blizzard conditions may be headed for the Midwest as the Southern U.S. braces for potential tornadoes, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
The NWS Weather Prediction Center’s Thursday forecast indicates a region stretching from eastern Nebraska to central Michigan could experience “widespread 6-12 inch snowfall totals within this corridor of the Midwest, with potentially over a foot of snow across northern Lower Michigan.”
The highest snow accumulations will likely be in Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois, the center predicted — with close to a foot of snow expected to fall in the inland portions of the states.
The NWS said “severe weather” could also occur in the Deep South and Southeast into late Friday.
“This also includes the threat of tornadoes along with the main threat of damaging wind gusts,” the forecast reads. “In terms of heavy rainfall potential, it appears the overall rainfall from this event will be generally less than what occurred earlier this week for most areas across the East Coast owing to the faster progression of the moisture plume and lighter rainfall rates.”
Some regions of Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana have an enhanced risk of severe storms Thursday night, per the NWS.
The wintry weather could also upend any travel plans. As of Thursday afternoon, nearly 11,000 flights have been delayed and at least 961 flights have been canceled across the country, according to FlightAware.com.
Governors across the country have recently issued emergency proclamations on incoming winter storms.
The governors of New Jersey, Florida, Maryland, Kansas and North Carolina all have issued emergency proclamations warning their residents about the dangerous weather conditions putting their states at risk.
The expected weather mimics storms from earlier this week that have left nearly 68,000 people still without power on the East Coast, according to PowerOutage.us.