Snow to slow travel in Denver, rain to soak Dallas and Oklahoma City on Tuesday

By Renee Duff, AccuWeather.com Meteorologist

February 21,2016; 9:33PM,EST

 

 

A storm will strengthen across the southern Plains, bringing the potential for soaking rain, snow and slow travel early this week.
Prior to Tuesday, a slow-moving front will be the focal point for locally heavy rainfall from eastern Texas to South Carolina into Monday night.

The heaviest rain is expected to focus along the Gulf Coast states.
"While widespread flooding is not anticipated, areas that see more persistent heavy rainfall and thunderstorms could experience flooding," AccuWeather Meteorologist Brian Thompson said.
As this front slowly exits the area, a new storm will quickly develop in its wake.

This second system will be the strongest of the two and is expected to bring a variety of impactful weather to a large part of the southern and eastern United States.
As the storm develops on Tuesday, enough cold air will be drawn in behind this system to produce accumulating snow across Colorado.
"Slippery travel can be expected on Interstate 25 from Denver to Pueblo, Colorado, late Monday night into Tuesday," AccuWeather Meteorologist Michael Doll said.
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He added that snow could accumulate quickly enough for roads to become snow covered.
"The Tuesday morning commute will be slippery," Doll warned.
Slick roads are also possible across the southern High Plains, where rain will begin on Monday night before switching over to a wintry mix as temperatures drop to below freezing by Tuesday morning. Any untreated, wet surfaces could quickly become icy.
On the warmer side of this system, rain will begin across Texas and stretch into the lower Mississippi Valley as the day progresses.

Rain could be heavy enough to cause localized flooding in low-lying and poor drainage areas.
The Tuesday evening commute may be slower than normal due to torrential downpours and ponding on roadways.
Doll explained that the cold air could move in quickly enough to cause rain to changeover to snow in the Ozarks late on Tuesday into Tuesday night.
Once this storm exits the southern Plains, it will likely unleash disruptive rain and snow across the eastern United States and Great Lakes, and severe weather in the Southeast at midweek.
Quieter weather will return to the southern Plains to end the week.