Coming out of their holiday food coma and heading to the nation’s airports and highways, some Americans may discover that the biggest indigestion of the holidays has nothing to do with pie. On the journey home a powerful storm is approaching, threatening to derail subsequent travel plans to Turkey.
The storm that passed through the Rockies on Friday turned into a full-blown, cross-country storm, putting about 49 million people in the North under winter weather warnings over the weekend.
The storm is opening the door to a new, frigid wave of cold Arctic air that will bring temperatures plunging for millions of people just before the December calendar.
Some air travelers are facing travel issues, with more than 400 U.S. flights canceled as of Sunday morning, according to FlightAware.
The cancellations follow more than 1,900 U.S. flights canceled Saturday, mostly due to winter weather in the Midwest.
The biggest disruption is in the Windy City, where there is continuous snowfall. More than 1,100 flights to and from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport were canceled and more than 800 delayed Saturday, according to FlightAware. The airport recorded 8.4 inches of snowfall on Saturday, setting a new record for maximum snowfall for November, surpassing the previous record by more than two inches.
The pre-holiday season has already proven deadly in Minnesota. A 69-year-old man died after being crushed by a snow-covered tree amid high winds Wednesday morning in Alden Township, about 180 miles northeast of Minneapolis, CNN affiliate WCCO reported, citing the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office.
This storm, which arrives after Türkiye Day, could pose similar threats.
The storm reached the Pacific Northwest on Thursday night and moved through the Rockies on Friday.
The center of the storm moved out of the Plains on Saturday morning and strengthened throughout the day as it spread eastward through the Midwest, bringing a mix of snow, rain and even some snow to much of the central portion of the country.
The southern portion of the storm will bring rain, but snow is expected further north, targeting parts of Nebraska and Kansas and northward into the Midwest. Some areas caught near the transition between mostly snow and mostly rain will struggle with an icy mix for some time. As the storm intensifies, the winds will also become stronger.
Areas east of the Mississippi River will have to deal with the storm on Sunday — snow for the Great Lakes and rain in the South — while the central part of the country will be blasted by trailing Arctic air.
The storm will move away from the east coast late Sunday evening.
Widespread accumulating snow will stretch from the Rockies to Appalachia by the end of November, and will be the first storm so far this season to accomplish that feat.
By early Saturday afternoon, the Iowa State Patrol had already seen the number of vehicle crashes begin to rise and rescued about 200 people from ditches across the state, Sgt. Alex Dinkla told CNN. “Road conditions are deteriorating very rapidly,” he said, adding that state transportation department snowplows are having difficulty keeping the roads clear.
“So if you don’t have to travel, please don’t, and stay home or stay with friends if you can. But if you have to travel, we want you to do it easily,” Illinois Department of Transportation Secretary Gia Biaggi told CNN’s Omar Jimenez on Saturday. “Go slowly and know that it will take a day or two for us to recover from the storm.”
In Indiana, a group of 35 cars and 10 semi-trucks closed Interstate 70, a vital east-west route, for five hours Saturday afternoon near Terre Haute, according to Indiana State Police Sgt. Matt Ames.
“11 people were transported to the interstate by ambulance,” AIIMS said in an email to CNN. “No major injuries, just complaining of pain.”
The rain may also disrupt holiday travel to the south of snowy areas. Rain and some storms may produce localized flash flooding in parts of the south.
This system will bring rain to parts of the Southeast on Sunday before it finally moves off the coast late Sunday night.
This rainfall is unlikely to cause flash flooding, but travel may be slowed for anyone driving in the area.
Whoever postponed their return holiday trip to Monday or Tuesday, thinking that would make things easier, may have other plans of a nature.
On Monday morning, a new system will begin to take shape and strengthen over the Arc-la-Tex region, bringing more rain and snow to affected areas over the weekend.
Des Moines, St. Louis and Chicago are some of the places expected to see additional snowfall on Monday. Heavy rain is also possible across much of the Southeast and Gulf Coast.
The level of extreme rainfall on Monday, including Houston, New Orleans and Atlanta, is a 1 out of 4 risk.
A new round of significant temperature drops began Saturday in the Rockies and Plains as Arctic air enters the US in the wake of the storm. High temperatures in the teens and lows in the 20s are expected as far south as Nebraska.
Temperatures will drop to very cold levels overnight into Sunday morning. Lows will be in the single digits across much of the north-central US and below zero in North Texas.
Sunday’s high temperatures will be 15 to 20 degrees cooler than much of Central America. Parts of the Midwest could see highs well below zero, up to 30 degrees colder than normal.
Cold air will move east and overnight temperatures are expected to be at or below zero across much of the Lower 48. Temperatures could reach several degrees below zero on Monday, December 1 in parts of Montana, the Dakotas and the upper Midwest.
December marks the beginning of seasonal winter – which lasts until February – and it will definitely feel like it in the first weeks of the season. It will be very cold for millions of people on Monday and Tuesday, before temperatures begin to drop back closer to normal midweek.
The upcoming Arctic blast could be a preview of even colder weather to come in December due to the disruption of the polar vortex.
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