The majority of the country is being slammed by a massive cold front raking across a corridor from Maine to Texas, sending heavy rain marching through the East Coast, as a severe weather threat takes aim at the South through Wednesday. Meanwhile, the front has created a rare May snowstorm ongoing across the Central Rockies, including Denver.
A swath of heavy rain soaked a path from Arkansas to upstate New York Wednesday as the front pushed east, reaching much of the coast by the afternoon. Some of those storms across the South developed into severe thunderstorms later Wednesday morning, with a more significant threat looming Wednesday evening.
Behind the front, cold air has created prime conditions for a late-season snowstorm that has already dropped more than 20 inches of snow across higher elevations across the Central Rockies.
The sprawling system could cause more significant air travel delays in the eastern and Central US, as well as Denver, after more than 200 flights were delayed or canceled into and out of Chicgao O'Hare International Airport on Tuesday.
Behind the cold front, millions will see temperatures plunge 20 to 30 degrees below average, with conditions more like early March than early May.
Severe storms failed to materialize over the Ark-La-Tex region on Tuesday. However, heavy rain triggered Flash Flood Warnings across parts of Arkansas early Wednesday while severe thunderstorms developed across Southwestern and Central Texas mid-morning.
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center (SPC) has issued a Level 3 out of 5 risk of severe storms across parts of central Mississippi and central Alabama, including Jackson, Birmingham and Tuscaloosa. The main threat will be the potential for supercell thunderstorms beginning early Wednesday evening capable of producing large hail and tornadoes.
The next severe weather threat will target the Southeast Thursday as that portion of the cold front finally reaches the coast.
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The intensity of the rain moving over the same areas led NOAA's Weather Prediction Center (WPC) to issue a Level 3 out of 4 flash flood risk across southern Mississippi and southern Alabama Wednesday through Thursday morning, including Jackson and Montgomery.
A widespread 2 to 3 inches of rain could fall across Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee through Friday.
This rain will actually be beneficial for much of the region, particularly southern Georgia, which is experiencing extreme drought.
Heavy rain was ongoing early Wednesday across the Ohio Valley and into upstate New York across the northern portion of the cold front.
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Downpours will reach the entire northeastern portion of the Interstate 95 corridor by Wednesday afternoon, with a half-inch to an inch of rain possible for Boston, New York City,Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
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The rain is also beneficial for much of the Northeast coast, where drought conditions are also increasing.
Showers are expected to clear out overnight Thursday, with temperatures dropping 5 to 10 degrees below average across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic through the weekend.
Meanwhile, Winter Storm Watches and Warnings remain in effect across the Interstate 25 corridor from Cheyenne, Wyoming, to Denver and have now expanded south to include Colorado Springs.
Over 20 inches of snow have been recorded across parts of the higher elevations of the Rockies.
Heavy snow is expected to last through early Wednesday afternoon, with whiteout driving conditions still possible.
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Denver International Airport tallied 4.7 inches of snow by mid-morning Wednesday, with 1 to 3 more inches still forecast.
The greatest accumulations will be in the mountains of Wyoming and Colorado, where some of the highest peaks and passes could see between 1 and 2 feet of heavy, wet snow.
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Snow starts to wane later in the day on Wednesday for the Rockies, before the system completely pulls away early Thursday.
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