Winter storm warnings in effect across northern US as April begins

Forecasters say the snow across the Rockies and northern Plains into Thursday evening will be no April Fools' joke from Mother Nature, as treacherous travel will be possible on the roadways.

The wintry scenes will come as a storm system ushers in unseasonably cold air across the northwestern tier of the country.

Temperatures will dip as much as 20-30 degrees Fahrenheit below normal for the first days of April from Billings, Montana, to Cheyenne, Wyoming; Rapid City, South Dakota, and Bismarck, North Dakota.

Winter storm warnings were dispersed across stretches of Wyoming, Montana and the Dakotas Wednesday, with winter weather advisories and winter storm watches covering a much larger area from Idaho to western Minnesota.

Those social distancing by taking a walk outside in these locales will need to bundle up amid highs in the 20s to near 30 into the latter part of the week.

"A potent springtime cold front will continue to bring a shot of snow to parts of the northern Rockies and northern Plains in the wake of recent warmth," AccuWeather Meteorologist Brandon Buckingham said.

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"Temperatures have fallen rapidly across portions of the northern Plains already. Bismarck, North Dakota observed a high temperature of 60 degrees Tuesday afternoon and by Thursday morning, Temperatures plummeted into the teens," he added.

While a first wave of snow tracked across the prairies of eastern Montana and northwestern North Dakota Wednesday, a second wave of snow began to blossom farther south over Wyoming on Wednesday night.

This second wave of snow will continue to target the northern Plains into Thursday night.

AccuWeather meteorologists expect a widespread plowable snowfall across the region, with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 14 inches (36 cm) where the heaviest snow falls. At this juncture, the AccuWeather Local StormMax™ is most likely to be achieved in portions of Wyoming, South Dakota, eastern Saskatchewan and western Manitoba.

"In addition to brief periods of heavy snowfall, strong, gusty winds will accompany the snow, producing white-out conditions at times which may make travel difficult,"AccuWeather meteorologist Isaac Longley said. Such conditions could threaten motorists on stretches of interstates 25 and 90.

On the southeastern edge of the swath of snow, a period of freezing rain can occur from northern Nebraska and northwestern Iowa through southeastern North Dakota and western Minnesota.

Conditions are likely to remain unseasonably cold in the wake of the front on Friday across the northern Plains, but forecasters say any fresh snowfall may start to melt away over the weekend as milder air moves in.

Lingering snow will continue to target portions of northern Minnesota and south-central Canada into Friday before completely coming to an end across the region.

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