Groundhog Day Storm To Spread Snow, Ice Across 2,000-Mile-Long Swath Of US

Hamilton County lays right in the tracks of a major incoming winter storm.

AccuWeather meteorologists are tracking the makings of a far-reaching, disruptive winter storm which is forecast to spread a plowable snow and significant icing from the central and southern Rockies to parts of the Northeast this week. Denver, Dallas and Detroit are among the major metro areas expected to face wintry consequences and potential travel trouble, forecasters say.

 “Depending on the exact track of the storm, an extended zone of icing may develop from central Texas extending through the Ohio Valley. Areas like Dallas, Little Rock, and Indianapolis could be under a significant ice threat around the middle of this week,” AccuWeather Meteorologist Joe Bauer said.

Winter and spring will be duking it out across the middle of the nation right around the time Punxsutawney Phil makes his highly anticipated forecast on Feb. 2, Groundhog Day. The clash of seasons will commence as a fresh wave of Arctic air dives southward into the northern Plains and warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico surges northward.

An expansive area of snow and ice, extending along an approximate 2,000-mile-long swath of the country, is expected to break out as early as Tuesday night from portions of Colorado and New Mexico to Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. By Wednesday night, the wintry hazards are forecast to expand farther south and east into Texas, Arkansas, and part of the lower Ohio Valley. “Depending on the exact track of the storm, an extended zone of icing may develop from central Texas extending through the Ohio Valley. Areas like Dallas, Little Rock, and Indianapolis could be under a significant ice threat around the middle of this week,” AccuWeather Meteorologist Joe Bauer said.