A new blizzard system rolling through the country brought hurricane-force winds to the Texas Panhandle, closing highways in Texas and Oklahoma - and now it threatens to strike the Midwest, still recovering from last week's winter blast.
National Weather Service officials issued blizzard warnings and watches in Kansas and Oklahoma through late Monday, as the storm makes its way across West Texas, bound for Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas and Missouri, NBC reported.
"As this blizzard makes its way through the panhandle and conditions warrant, we will continue to push state resources to the area to assist impacted communities," Texas Gov. Rick Perry said in a prepared statement issued to The Los Angeles Times. "Visibility in many places is quickly deteriorating, and I urge all Texans in the storm's path to remain vigilant and heed warnings from local officials. As always, Texas is thankful for the brave men and women who stand ready to respond to events that place their fellow Texans in harm's way."
Greg Carbin, a meteorologist at the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla. told NBC that a strong low-pressure system is fueling the storm.
"The more intense the low, the stronger the storm as far as pulling air in," he said. "That's what gives us the high winds."
Not all of the affected areas are below freezing, so heavy rain and thunderstorms slammed eastern Oklahoma and Texas - and six Arkansas counties are under a tornado watch until 8 p.m. CST, NBC reported.
"March is the time we see intense winter storms in the Plains," Carbin added to NBC.
National Weather Service meteorologist Victor Murphy said the system is heading east at 25 mph. Parts of Colorado and New Mexico were affected by the storm after it swept that area on Sunday - bringing up to 10 inches to parts of New Mexico, and up to two feet to the foothills west of Denver.
The snowfall may actually help Denver athletic fields, temporarily closed to protect the drought-damaged grass, severely in need of moisture.
"Is it a drought buster? Absolutely not," Murphy told NBC. "Will it bring short-term improvement? Yes." Climatologists say 12 inches of snow is equivalent to about 1 inch of rain, depending on the density of the snow, NBC reported.
At the same time, though, the storm could be deadly for grazing cattle - among them calves born in recent days. The wind pushes the animals into a fenced corner where they could suffocate from the drifts, NBC reported.
"This type of snow is a cattle killer," Texas rancher Jay O'Brien told NBC, noting that feedlot cattle can lose up to 40 pounds in a storm of this severity. The size of the nation's cattle herd is already at its lowest since 1952.
As precaution, Kansas City, Mo. Mayor Sly James has already declared a state of emergency. The metropolitan area saw about a foot of snow last week, with an extra foot or more forecasted beginning Monday evening, according to NBC.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
