A large winter storm blew towards the middle of the U.S. on Monday, threatening tens of millions of individuals with heavy snow, freezing rain and flooding.

The National Weather Service warned that there can be “numerous, widespread, and impactful weather hazards in the heart of the country this week.” Across the Rockies and into the northern Plains and elements of the Midwest, folks had been warned to arrange for blizzard-like situations. Those farther south in Texas and Louisiana may get heavy rains with flash flooding, hail and tornadoes by Tuesday. The storm will proceed southeast into Florida later within the week, forecasters stated.

“It will be a busy week while this system moves across the country,” said Marc Chenard, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s headquarters in College Park, Maryland.

Officials in western South Dakota told residents to brace for 6 inches (15 centimeters) or more of snow: “Get your shovels handy, get your groceries, and check other needed supplies. The roads will be hard to travel.”

A swath of country stretching from Montana into western Nebraska and Colorado was under blizzard warnings Monday, and the National Weather Service said that as much as 2 feet (61 centimeters) of snow was possible in some areas of western South Dakota and northwestern Nebraska. Meanwhile, ice and sleet were expected in the eastern Great Plains.

National Weather Service warned that up to about half an inch (2.5 centimeters) of ice could form and winds could gust up to 45 miles per hour (72 kilometers per hour) in parts of Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota. Power outages, tree damage, falling branches and hazardous travel conditions all threatened the region.

Also read: Vladimir Putin’s jibe at US on ‘pre-emptive’ nuclear strike: ‘We’re thinking…’

“This is a ‘we are not kidding’ kind of storm,” the South Dakota Department of Public Safety stated in a tweet urging folks to replenish on necessities, then keep house as soon as the storm hits.

Thousands of scholars from Native American communities throughout Wyoming, Nebraska and the Dakotas had been touring to Rapid City, South Dakota, for this week’s Lakota Nation Invitational, a highschool athletic occasion. Brian Brewer, one of many organizers, stated he had urged faculties and members to journey early.

“We told them with this storm coming — if you leave tomorrow, there’s a good chance you might not make it,” he stated Monday.

In northern Utah, a tour bus crashed Monday morning as snow and frigid temperatures blanketed the area. The bus flipped onto its facet in Tremonton after the driving force misplaced management whereas switching lanes, the Highway Patrol stated in an announcement. The Highway Patrol stated 23 passengers had been injured, together with some severely.

The climate is a part of the identical system that dumped heavy snow within the Sierra Nevada over the weekend.

In Northern California, most mountain highways had reopened Monday. Remaining warnings in Southern California mountains had been anticipated to run out late Monday evening, the National Weather Service stated.

With winter nonetheless greater than every week away, it was the newest fall storm to deliver important precipitation to California, which is coping with the impacts of years of drought which have spurred requires water conservation.

Also learn: US delegates in China talk on improving ties, Taiwan: Foreign ministry

The UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab northwest of Lake Tahoe reported that the storm dropped 54.5 inches (138.5 centimeters) of snow.

The Sierra snowpack, which on common is at its peak on April 1, is generally a major supply of water when it melts within the spring. Throughout the drought specialists have cautioned about optimism over early season storms as local weather change makes what had been as soon as common situations uncommon.

Last 12 months, a robust atmospheric river dumped enormous quantities of rain on California in October and a moist stretch in December left elements of the Sierra Nevada buried in snow. Then the state skilled its driest January by way of April on document.