First US winter storm of 2023 brings snow, sleet and tornado threat
World
The National Weather Service (NWS) forecast intense snowfall of 1 to 3 inches.
(Reuters) - The first major U.S. winter storm system of the year dumped a frosty mix of snow, freezing rain and sleet from the Northern Plains to the Upper Great Lakes region on Tuesday while posing a tornado and flood threat to a large swath of the South.
The National Weather Service (NWS) forecast intense snowfall of 1 to 3 inches (2-1/2 to 7-1/2 cm) per hour in parts of Nebraska, South Dakota and Minnesota on Tuesday, accompanied at times by thunder, with more than a foot of snow expected to accumulate.
Drifting and blowing snow from strong, gusty winds was expected to make road travel virtually impossible in some areas, while snow fog, mist and freezing rain created treacherous driving conditions in others, the NWS said.
Winter storm warnings, ice storm warnings and winter weather advisories were posted in and around Minneapolis and St. Paul in Minnesota as freezing rain swept north through the region, followed by bands of heavy snow, according to the NWS.
By Tuesday evening, about a half foot of snow had fallen on the Twin Cities western suburbs, and 4 inches at Minneapolis-St.Paul International Airport, said Richard Bann, a meteorologist for the NWS Weather Prediction Center in Maryland.
The weather service said the storm front originated from a low-pressure system churning over Iowa.
The wintry blast, expected to spread into New England by Wednesday, was part of a larger weather front bringing heavy showers, severe thunderstorms, hail and tornadoes to the lower Mississippi Valley, Gulf Coast, Tennessee Valley and southern Appalachians
