Heavy Snow, High Winds Sock Rockies, Western Dakotas

UPDATED 7 PM MDT, October 4,2013

UPDATED By WeatherBug Meteorologist, Fred Allen

 

 

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An early-season winter-like storm will not only threaten the Upper Mississippi Valley to southern Plains with potent thunderstorms, but it is producing the season`s first blizzard. Byproducts of the storm system will be difficult -or impossible- travel, damaging winds and lengthy power outages as well.

Areas of moderate-to-heavy, wet snow will continue to blanket the ground from extreme northern Colorado into eastern Wyoming and much of the western Dakotas through Saturday morning, as low pressure wraps cold, Canadian air into its western flank.

The snow will fall heavily at times, with snowfall rates peaking at 1-to-3 inches per hour before slowly winding down by Saturday afternoon and evening. In fact, the Interstate 90 and 25 corridors across southeastern Wyoming, western Nebraska, and in southwestern South Dakota will be buried by snow, digging out of 10-to-20 inches.

Further north across Interstate 94 in North Dakota, snowfall tallies will be impressive as well, with 6-to-12 inches likely.

Blizzard Warnings are in place across eastern Wyoming, western Nebraska, central South Dakota, and southern North Dakota, including Chadron, Neb., Lusk, Wyo., and Rapid City, S.D. Elsewhere, Winter Storm Warnings and Winter Weather Advisories stretch from Wyoming to southwestern North Dakota through Saturday.

As if the heavy, wet snow weren`t enough, the storm will pack potentially damaging winds across large parts of the central Rockies and western High Plains. Gusts topping 50 mph will team up with the falling snow to not only produce blizzard and whiteout conditions, but along with the weight of the snow will compromise tree branches likely resulting in significant and lengthy power outages.

Even driving will be a difficult or impossible task along Interstates 94, 90, and 25 across the Rockies and western High Plains through Saturday. If you absolutely need to travel and you become stranded, it is best to have a winter survival kit composed with blankets, non-perishable food, and flashlights. Drivers should also be prepared for road closures and find out if chains are a requirement.

Already, the powerful early-autumn storm system is shutting down traffic in Butte County in western South Dakota due to ongoing blizzard conditions. In fact, a Civil Emergency is in effect for the region and travel is strongly discouraged in Belle Fourche, Meade, and Lawrence Counties, S.D., where power lines and trees have collapsed on local roadways, and roads are impassable. So far, 13.5 inches of snow have falling near Encampment, Wyo., with 10.8 inches blanketing the ground near Rawlins, Wyo