By Doyle Rice, USA TODAY
Moisture from the Gulf of Mexico is colliding with a cold air mass
over Kansas and Nebraska Wednesday, triggering a powerful winter storm
that could dump more than a foot of snow over the central Plains,
according to the National Weather Service.
Officials feared the
winter storm would be the worst in the central U.S. since the Groundhog
Day blizzard in 2011, which killed dozens and left hundreds of thousands
powerless.
Midday Wednesday, the entire state of Kansas, along
with most of Nebraska and Missouri, was under a winter storm warning
from the weather service.
Snow was already flying Wednesday across portions of Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas and Missouri, AccuWeather reported.
Some spots in western Kansas had already picked up a half a foot of snow by midday Wednesday, the Weather Channel reported.
Howling
winds and driving snow will bring several hours of blizzard conditions
to parts of Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota and Iowa Wednesday night into
Thursday, AccuWeather meteorologist Anthony Sagliani said.
Widespread
snow was also falling in the central and southern Rockies and sleet and
freezing rain over parts of Oklahoma, Missouri and Arkansas.
The
storm was moving east from California across the Four Corners states
Wednesday. This is leading to widespread snowfall across the mountains
of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and northern and eastern Arizona. Lower
elevations are seeing a cold rain.
The World Golf Championship
Match Play event Wednesday near Tucson was suspended due to snow. In
California, snow stranded hundreds of drivers on mountain highways
earlier in the day.
"Mostly snow is forecast to fall around
Chicago later Thursday and Thursday night, with the storm likely to be
not only the biggest storm of the winter so far, but also a very
disruptive one at that," Sagliani said. Up to 4 inches of snow is
possible in the Windy City, the weather service reported.
The Weather Channel has named the storm "Winter Storm Q."
The
powerful storm roaring into the Southwest Wednesday and central U.S. on
Thursday will also bring heavy rain, strong winds -- but also
much-needed moisture for the drought-scorched Plains.
However,
other than the travel issues due to the snow, the precipitation will be
welcome in much of the drought-scorched Plains: "Many areas of the
drought region should enjoy their their wettest day in months," said
meteorologist Jeff Masters of the Weather Underground.
"As bad off as we are this fall and winter, it will definitely help,"said climatologist Mark Svoboda
"Since
October, we are down 2 to 4 inches in the region, so while it will
help, it will need to be followed up by a couple of other large storms
just to get us to normal on the season......and that does nothing to make
up for the much larger deficits due to last year's drought."
The
most recent U.S. Drought Monitor shows that 77% of the state of Nebraska
is enduring "exceptional" drought conditions, the highest level of
drought. In Kansas, 36% of the state is under exceptional drought.
"We'll
put up with a blizzard to get this critical moisture rather than the
alternative of no blizzard -- as we aren't in a position to be too
choosy about how we get that moisture!" Svoboda said.
Farmers in
drought-plagued Kansas agreed: ""In the city you hear they don't want
the snow and that sort of thing, and I am thinking, `Yes, we do,' and
they don't realize that we need it," said farmer Diane McReynolds of
Woodson, Kan.
"We have to have it or their food cost in the
grocery store is going to go very high," she said. "We have to have
this. We pray a lot for it."
Further to the south, on the warmer
side of the storm, severe weather is possible in central Texas
Wednesday, according to the Storm Prediction Center. The main threats
are large hail and damaging winds. By Thursday, the severe weather
threat shifts east into eastern Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, where
tornadoes are possible in addition to the hail and winds.
Contributing: Associated Press