‘Worst storm of 2022’ threatens half the US with blizzards, tornadoes and flooding

Spring may open with a bang in the coming days as a massive storm system looks set to roll across a large portion of the US after a weekend of severe weather.

There is potential for thunderstorms, tornadoes, severe flooding, and blizzards in states from the Rockies to the Atlantic coast according to the latest forecasts from the National Weather Service.

Risk to lives and property is possible with significant delays expected to air, shipping and ground transportation.

“Next week has the potential to bring not only the most significant storm of March but perhaps the entire year so far considering the duration and all of its impacts combined,” AccuWeather meteorologist Paul Pastelok said.

“This could end up being the worst storm of all of 2022 if the system and its impacts reach the maximum potential.”

Before that system moves through, severe weather is already threatening 30 million people this weekend with hail, torrential downpours and isolated tornadoes forecast.

“Saturday will likely be an active day weather-wise, as we will be monitoring the threat of thunderstorms throughout the afternoon,” said AccuWeather meteorologist Brandon Buckingham.

The first weather system spawned tornadoes in southern states and the Tennessee and Ohio valleys on Friday.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts scattered damaging winds, isolated severe hail, and a brief tornado or two as possible across parts of the Northeast on Saturday afternoon into the evening. Isolated large hail and damaging winds are also possible, mainly across a portion of the South Atlantic coast during the late afternoon.

There will be a brief respite for the official start of spring on Sunday before a sharp southward plunge of the jetstream, and an area of low pressure in the southwest taps into moisture from the Gulf of Mexico.

This will lead to potentially all-out blizzard conditions in parts of Colorado, southeastern Wyoming, northern New Mexico and the Nebraska Panhandle from Sunday night through to Monday and Tuesday.

On the warmer side of the system, rain and thunderstorms will become widespread across the plains and the Mississippi Valley with severe thunderstorms, high winds, and hail potentially hitting eastern Texas, Louisiana, and southern Arkansas.

The NOAA warns of the risk for potentially strong tornadoes in the area during Monday.

By Tuesday, much of the midwest and south will experience rain and thunderstorms with the most severe threat across much of Louisiana into Mississippi and Alabama.

On Wednesday, the soaking rain and thunderstorms will have moved into the southeast and northeast, with blizzard potential in the northern midwest and Great Lakes. Alabama, Georgia, and the Florida panhandle will be under threat of severe storms.

The storm could bring a massive amount of rainfall to much of the eastern half of the nation. AccuWeather reports that some areas could see two to four inches with locally higher amounts possible in northeastern Texas and eastern Oklahoma to central Alabama, much of Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Kentucky, and the southern portions of Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana from Monday to Wednesday.