Clash of cold air, snow to yield rapid freeze-up in central US this weekend

By Alex Sosnowski , AccuWeather senior meteorologist

December 16,2016, 4:20:12PM,EST

 

 Snow and cold air will clash over the central United States this weekend, leading to flash freeze hazards and dangerous travel.

The storm will drop snow from the central Rockies to the northern Plains and the upper Great Lakes region on Saturday.

In northern and western areas, plunging temperatures will cause the snow to be dry and powdery. As temperatures fall, winds gusting between 40 and 60 mph will cause extensive blowing and drifting snow. Localized blizzard conditions may ensue for a time on Saturday into Saturday night.
Denver; Omaha, Nebraska; Des Moines, Iowa; Minneapolis; and Green Bay, Wisconsin, may have blizzard conditions.

Areas from the southern Plains to the lower Great lakes can expect rain or a wintry mix to change to snow.
Prior to the colder air, enough rain can fall on top of the existing snow to lead to urban flooding Saturday night from Cleveland to Erie, Pennsylvania, and Buffalo, New York.
Surfaces made wet or slushy for a time during the height of the storm will turn icy as cold air returns. In some cases, snow will fall and conceal the ice. It is possible that ice-melting efforts may become ineffective as temperatures plummet.

Oklahoma City; Kansas City, Missouri; St. Louis; Chicago; Detroit; and Cleveland could face the rapid freeze.
The transition to icy and tundra-like conditions will occur on Saturday over the Plains. By Saturday night, the change will hit the middle Mississippi to the central Great Lakes. Parts of the Ohio Valley and lower Great Lakes will experience the change on Sunday as the storm concludes.
RELATED:
Sunday's Packers vs. Bears game may be coldest in Chicago's history
Below-zero temperatures to expand across US during 3rd week of December
Weekend snow, ice storm to slick roads in northeastern US
The risk of a freeze-up and icy travel in the absence of significant snow will extend from Little Rock, Arkansas, to Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee; Louisville, Kentucky; Cincinnati; Pittsburgh; and Charleston, West Virginia.
There is the potential for heavy, gusty and locally severe thunderstorms from the upper Texas coast and much of Louisiana to Mississippi, northwestern Alabama and central Tennessee from Saturday afternoon to Saturday evening. A small number of the strongest storms in this area could bring damaging wind gusts and perhaps an isolated tornado.
The press of cold air will end the severe weather threat late Saturday night. A freeze can occur as far south as Houston and Corpus Christi, Texas, before the weekend concludes.