Map shows ‘stormiest stretch of winter’ pelting 40 US states and 200,000,000 people

A trio of weather systems have formed the ‘stormiest stretch of winter’ in the US this season, spanning coast to coast and blasting 40 US states and 200million people. The first of a trifecta of storms hammered a 1,500-mile span of the East Coast on Tuesday with snow, rain and sleet and dumped over a foot of snow in parts of the Appalachian Mountains. But a couple more storm systems threaten to pound the country this weekend and mid-next week.

‘The caboose in the storm train could be one of the strongest and most disruptive of the bunch before drier Arctic air reasserts itself,’ according to AccuWeather meteorologists. A storm in the middle of this week is dumping heaving snow in the upper Midwest and northern part of the northeast. By the time that dissipates, another storm is expected to affect the same area through the weekend. ‘There’s probably going to be a major storm next week, thanks to a strong injection of Arctic air over the northern Plains,’ said AccuWeather Chief On-Air Meteorologist Bernie.

‘The question is does that storm try to track up along the Atlantic coast or head more to the east, across the Southern states and then out to sea.’. Heavy snowfall is forecast in Chicago and Detroit and likely to disrupt travel through the Midwest. Other areas expected to see snow from the mid-Atlantic to southern New England include Cincinnati, Kansas City, Missouri, St Louis, Indianapolis and Pittsburgh.

Rain or a wintry mix could hit Philadelphia and Washington, DC, and Boston and New York City could ice over. This weekend’s storm could unleash flooding in the Southeast including in urban areas. On Wednesday, the largest storm system of the season unraveled across California, bringing torrential rain, snow and strong winds expected to last through Friday, FOX Weather reported. Thursday is forecast to be most intense, with rain possibly pounding down at one inch per hour. Areas about 7,000 feet could see up to 7 feet of snow.

The storm could unleash flash flooding on wildfire burn scar areas that could result in mudslides. ‘This is the stormiest stretch of the winter with a February frenzy of storms every few days in many places,’ said AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter on Friday. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. For more stories like this, check our news page. Arrow MORE: Fabrics and crafts retail chain closing 500 stores within months.

Arrow MORE: Mum-of-four ‘shoots three of her daughters and leaves one fighting for her life’. Arrow MORE: Man who ‘killed four university students could walk free thanks to new evidence’. Never miss the biggest stories with breaking news alerts in your inbox. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy.