Fierce snow and dangerous travel conditions will impact millions as a massive, deadly storm that spawned tornadoes plows east - CNN

CNN  — 

The deadly tempest system that destroyed homes successful the South is heading east, threatening much tornadoes, freezing rain, treacherous question and powerfulness outages.

At slightest 2 radical were killed successful Louisiana arsenic the system’s vicious winds tore done communities from Oklahoma to Texas to Mississippi.

Now connected the acold broadside of this massive, multifaceted storm, astir 40 cardinal radical from Utah, Idaho and Montana each the mode to New England are nether wintertime upwind alerts Wednesday. In astatine slightest 4 states, astir fractional cardinal radical successful are nether blizzard warnings until Thursday morning.

Here’s what antithetic parts of the state tin expect:

• Down on the Gulf Coast, beardown tornadoes, damaging winds and ample hail Wednesday could interaction cities including New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Biloxi and Hattiesburg, Mississippi; and eastbound to Mobile, Alabama. The US Storm Prediction Center has issued a tornado ticker and said it is simply a “particularly unsafe situation.” That designation is utilized erstwhile the astir important threats are expected, including strong, long-tracked tornadoes.

• In the Northern Plains, wide blizzard conditions volition proceed Wednesday, with whiteouts astatine times. As winds gust up to 55 mph, blowing snowfall volition marque question dangerous.

Already, a 700-mile agelong of Interstate 80 is closed from Wyoming to Nebraska, wherever roadworthy question is virtually impossible. Other large interstates – including I-90 and I-94 – could besides beryllium crippled.

• In the Upper Midwest and Northern Plains, 8 to 12 inches of snowfall could autumn betwixt Wednesday and Thursday. Cities successful northeastern Minnesota could get buried nether 2 feet of snow.

• The Central Appalachians – including parts of Virginia, Pennsylvania and the Maryland Panhandle – could get freezing rainfall totaling betwixt a tenth and a 4th of an inch overnight Wednesday done Thursday evening. An crystal tempest informing is posted for this country until Thursday nighttime owed to important crystal accumulations.

• Parts of Pennsylvania will apt get deed with a treble whammy: freezing rainfall and snowfall Thursday and Friday.

• Inland portions of New York and New England are expected to beryllium walloped by week’s extremity by a caller tempest spawned by the strategy that volition make into a nor’easter. It volition determination done the Mid-Atlantic by Thursday, spreading a operation of rain, crystal and snow.

• Major Northeastern coastal cities can expect 1 to 2 inches of dense rainfall into the play from the nor’easter, and “some airy but impactful freezing rain, sleet, and snowfall whitethorn premix successful during the Thursday greeting commute on the I-95 corridor,” the Weather Prediction Center warned.

Blizzard warnings are successful effect passim parts of Nebraska, wherever respective roads are closed – including each roadways from Nebraska into Colorado – the authorities proscription section said.

The “one-in-five-year storm” that began Tuesday is expected to linger done the extremity of the week, National Weather Service meteorologist Bill Taylor said.

Residents volition endure near-zero visibility, hazardous question conditions and imaginable powerfulness outages.

There are besides blizzard warnings successful parts of Minnesota, South Dakota and Wyoming.