Midwest braces for blizzard with tornado risk in South

Every state in the country has weather warnings this weekend as a major storm moves across the US, with the Midwest bracing for an oncoming blizzard and dangerously cold temperatures and the South bracing for tornadoes and power outages.

blizzard and winter storm warnings have been issued for parts of the West and much of the Midwest since Friday as arctic temperatures move in bringing bitter cold and snow.

Cold air will sweep across the West on Friday, bringing snow with “significant impacts” to Oregon, Idaho, Nevada and Utah, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). Wind chills in the Rockies and northern plains will be below minus 40 degrees.

Strong winds are expected to increase through the weekend and mix with bitter cold and several inches of snow to create life-threatening conditions in Iowa, just days before the Iowa caucuses begin.

Significant snowfall is also expected in Wisconsin and Michigan. Green Bay and parts of Wisconsin along Lake Michigan could get 10 inches to 15 inches of snow and strong winds. The NWS advised people to consider postponing travel Friday and Saturday until the storm passes and said if people must travel, use extra caution.

Snowfall peaks in eastern Michigan are expected to be up to an inch per hour Friday night, with some areas approaching 6 inches total.

Flights have been grounded at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport due to the weather, delaying travel by an average of two hours.

As the storm system moves east, it will bring snow to the southern and mid-Atlantic interior Sunday through Monday and may bring snow to the Northeast next week. the NWS predicts. Strong winds and coastal flooding are also a concern for the East, just days after another storm passed through.

Parts of Texas and the interior Southeast may experience subzero wind chills early next week. The Southwest Power Pool, which oversees electric reliability in 14 states in the region, stated advice for energy operators ahead of the storm that could bring a “higher than normal outage risk.”

While the storm will bring heavy snow and cold to parts of the country, the warm side of the storm system will bring damaging winds and tornadoes to the South, The Washington Post predicts. A tornado watch was in effect for parts of Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee.

Portions of Mississippi north of Jackson are under an increased tornado risk with widespread damaging winds of 60 mph to 80 mph. Many downed trees and power lines are expected, the NWS predicts.

The warnings come days after Florida declared a state of emergency for 49 counties as a storm produced wind gusts and gusts topping 70 mph.