Last week marked the beginning of spring, but millions of Americans are still feeling the winter weather as they prepare for a major storm sweeping across the country.
ABC News reported that on March 24, 16 states from California to Michigan were placed under a hurricane warning due to a major storm carrying heavy snow, preventing travel until March 26.
The current hurricane warning stretches from Montana to Michigan, stretching more than 2,200 km.
From northwest Kansas to the Upper Michigan Peninsula, 15-30cm of snow is forecast, with some areas experiencing up to 60cm of snow.
A snow warning is currently in effect from eastern Colorado to southern Dakota, with gusts of up to 96 km/h until the morning of March 26. Although snowstorms in the central United States are not uncommon at this time of year, much of the storm-affected areas have not had a typical winter in the past few months.
Minnesota and Wisconsin have just experienced their warmest winter on record, with less than half of the normal snowfall in cities like Minneapolis.
In the southern part of the storm, the conflict of cold and warm air, along with other factors, will contribute to a severe weather outbreak that will last for many days from the North American Plains to the deep South.
Thunderstorms move across Kansas City and Oklahoma, bringing the risk of gusts of wind, heavy hail and tornadoes.
On March 25, the strongest to severe storms moved into Texas and then into Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi.
These storms will also bring a lot of rain, so flash floods will be a worrying problem in the south.
In the northeast, heavy rains have occurred in cities from Baltimore to Boston, with rainfall ranging from 50-100 mm.
Northern New England also saw heavy snowfall, with Albany, New Hampshire seeing up to 70 cm of snow. Vermont and Maine have more than 60 cm of snow.
