Winter Storm Blanche will continue to give snow and strong winds to the Northern Plains through Wednesday. The visibility was reduced to almost nil in several places leading to dangerous travel conditions.
Blanche is likely to bring further snowfall to Northern Maine through Thursday. Various winter storm watch and warnings have been issued for parts of the Northern Plains.
Blanche brought up to 24 inches of snow to California's Sierra Nevada close to the Lake Tahoe area over the weekend. The storm has also produced a foot or more of snow in some parts of Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Idaho and Northern New Mexico.
Blanche's surface low-pressure system has shifted northeastward toward the Northern Plains. The peripheral of this low pressure is expected to stay in place into early Wednesday.
In the Northern Plains, only 20 inches of snow has been recorded in North Dakota near Hannover, while South Dakota's Black Hills have witnessed more than a foot of snow.
Heavy snowfall may occur over the central and Western Dakotas during Wednesday, while eastern Dakotas and Western Minnesota may receive light snow showers.
Strong winds moving around this low pressure area may produce severe weather conditions in open country into early Wednesday.
The moisture associated with Blanche is merging with the cold air, leading to wintry weather in Interior New England.
Western New England witnessed freezing rain during early Tuesday morning. Meanwhile, snow was observed in Maine.
Snow from Blanche in the western states was due to the potent southward plunge of the jet stream which moved across that region and into the Central United States since this weekend.
The energy connected with the jet-stream dip created an area of low pressure in the Plains. The moisture from Blanche is also pushing toward east of the low pressure, giving wintry chill in interior New England, particularly in Northern Maine through midweek.
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