A two-part storm is set to deliver back-to-back hits of wintry messes to the central United States this week, seeing 2020 to the door with slippery roads and hazardous conditions.
As the first part of the double-barreled storm with snow and ice spreads its win try mix and travel disruptions across the north-central U.S. into midweek, forecasters are warning of a new round of snow and ice. The second round is expected to unfold over Texas before spreading northward and hitting some areas of the Plains and Upper Midwest with another dose of freezing and frozen precipitation prior to the end of the week.
A swath of heavy snow and ice from the first part of the storm will continue to advance northeastward from Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa into Tuesday afternoon before taking aim at northern Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan during Tuesday night and early Wednesday.
The snowy part of the storm has made for dangerous travel conditions in parts of Colorado.
Interstate 76 in the northeastern part of the state was closed in both directions due to adverse weather during early Tuesday morning, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation.
Farther east, an icy and slippery commute is in store for people around Kansas City, Missouri, and Topeka, Kansas, on Tuesday, but it is snow that is forecast to pile up with enough to shovel and plow around Omaha, Nebraska; Des Moines, Iowa; and Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
A period of snow is forecast to swing across Chicago and Milwaukee during Tuesday evening and may catch some people on their way home from work or school. The same burst of snow will move across the Detroit area, but it will not be until the late evening or overnight hours Tuesday.
After depositing 6-12 inches of snow with locally higher amounts on Colorado, the strip of heavy snow from the first part of the storm is expected to set up over northeastern Nebraska and northern Iowa and extend to southern Wisconsin. An AccuWeather StormMax™ of 20 inches is forecast for the first part of this storm.
"A more dangerous component of the storm will be a glaze of ice that has the potential to accrue to thicknesses that can not only weigh down trees limbs, but also lead to power outages from northern Kansas to northern Missouri, southeastern Iowa and part of western Illinois," According to AccuWeather Senior Storm Warning Meteorologist Eddie Walker.