California Gov. Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency in more than a dozen counties across the state as the typically warm climate has been rocked by rare snowstorms in the past week.
The National Guard has also been activated in order to assist the operations.
The storms have been severe and whiteout conditions have caused major disruptions across the West Coast. Mount Baldy and Big Bear Lake have both accumulated an astonishing 106 inches of snow over the last few days, and Soda Springs has had almost 9.5 feet of white powder fall from the sky. Additionally, ski resorts such as Palisade Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada mountain range have had an incredible 500 inches of snow this season — a total that hasn't been seen since 1970. Palisade Tahoe was forced to shut down on Tuesday due to the amount of snowfall received.
The massive storm is next expected to bring severe weather across the South. With more than 90 million people in 36 states on alert for the conditions, many major cities could be hit, including Dallas, Shreveport, and Little Rock. Further, the storm is expected to move into the Southeast and up to the Ohio Valley region on Friday. Atlanta, Birmingham, Charlotte, Nashville, and Lexington are some of the cities that could be affected by damaging winds and possible tornadoes. Additionally, Oklahoma to Ohio could see 3-5 inches of rain, and flash flooding could be triggered in the area.
According to the forecast, the same system could bring the biggest snowstorm of the season to Chicago on Friday, with over 6 inches of snow expected. The snowstorm will spread into the Northeast that same evening, and a wintry mix is expected from New York to Boston, with stronger snowfall further inland in upstate New York and Maine. Locally, parts of the inland Northeast could see noteworthy snowfall of at least 6 inches.
