AccuWeather Global Weather Center (January 25, 2019) — Ahead of the harshest cold yet this season, a storm will lay a swath of snow, slippery travel and disruptions to daily routines across the midwestern United States beginning on Sunday.
Areas of snow and slick travel can dot the region prior to the early week storm as bitterly cold air remains in place.
Highs will generally remain 10-25 degrees Fahrenheit below normal, in the single digits and teens, through the weekend.
Lake-effect snow showers will continue to stream off of lakes Michigan and Superior into Saturday.
Patches of light snow will also sweep from the northern Plains to portions of mid-Mississippi and Ohio valleys through the first half of the weekend.
A storm with a larger and more organized swath of snow will then take a nosedive southward into the northern Plains on Sunday before reaching the lower Great Lakes on Monday.
Enough snow can fall along this swath for plans and activities to be altered or canceled. Schools may be forced to use another snow day at the start of the new week, and people may have difficulties getting to work.
"The potential exists for more than 6 inches of snow to fall along that corridor, which can include the cities of Fargo, North Dakota; Minneapolis; Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Chicago; and Detroit," said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Kristina Pydynowski.
Stretches of interstates 29, 35, 75, 80, 90, 94 and 96 could be severely affected by the storm.
"The snow will be powdery, which will help ease the hardships of shoveling amid the frigid conditions," Pydynowski said.
However, gusty winds whipping in with the storm can blow around the light and fluffy snow, creating blowing and drifting concerns as well as whiteouts on the roadways.
Strong winds will whip through the High Plains even in the absence of snow, with gusts past 50 mph possible from eastern Montana to Nebraska and Kansas from Sunday through Monday.
