Live updates: Blizzard 'bomb' blasts the Midwest, significant severe weather outbreak eyes millions
Follow live updates as a powerful blizzard 'bomb' slams the Midwest with heavy snow and high winds. Get real-time alerts on the severe weather outbreak and storm impacts targeting millions from the Heartland to the East Coast.
Travel has been brought to a complete standstill across much of South Dakota as blizzard conditions turn major thoroughfares into whiteout zones.
The South Dakota Department of Transportation has taken the extraordinary step of closing hundreds of miles of interstate, citing impossible driving conditions caused by heavy snow and intense wind gusts.
As of Sunday morning, the following major closures remain in effect with no estimated time for reopening:
- Interstate 90: Closed in both directions from Sioux Falls to Wall (a stretch of nearly 300 miles).
- Interstate 29: Closed in both directions from Sioux Falls to the North Dakota state line.
Interstates 29 and 90 are closed in South Dakota right now due to the blizzard.
Officials warn that bridges and underpasses are becoming blocked by massive drifts, and visibility is frequently dropping to zero.
In addition to the highway closures, Sioux Falls Regional Airport has shut down entirely, a rare move that underscores the severity of this blizzard
Motorists are being strictly advised not to use secondary highways to bypass these closures, as stranded vehicles only hinder emergency and snow removal efforts.
Oronoco, Minnesota, is the latest community to be buried under heavy snow, officially recording 14.0 inches as the blizzard slams the region.
This massive total comes as intense snow bands continue to dump several inches per hour, making travel nearly impossible across southeast Minnesota.
Latest top snow reports from Minnesota.
Snow reports are beginning to pour in as the blizzard intensifies, with the highest accumulation currently recorded at 14.9 inches in Montana, Wisconsin.
Located in Buffalo County, Montana is sitting in a prime corridor for heavy banding, where snow has been falling at a rate of nearly 2 inches per hour this morning.
While the Midwest digs out from the blizzard, the East Coast is bracing for a rare and dangerous severe weather outbreak on Monday.
The FOX Forecast Center warns that the threat level has been upgraded to a rare Level 4 out of 5 for a large corridor including Washington, D.C., and parts of Maryland, Virginia, and the Carolinas. This is a serious and uncommon alert for the region, signaling that widespread, intense storms are likely to cause significant damage.
Dangerous ingredients coming together
The atmosphere over the East Coast will be highly energized tomorrow. As a deep storm system pivots toward the Atlantic, it is pulling up warm, humid air that will collide with extreme wind speeds just above the ground.
Meteorologists are tracking extreme shear profiles, which essentially means the winds are changing speed and direction so rapidly that they will easily cause storms to spin. This setup is a classic recipe for powerful tornadoes and long-lived supercell storms that can travel hundreds of miles.
A rare Level 4 of 5 threat zone has been issued for portions of the East Coast on Monday.
What to expect: Tornadoes and 75-mph winds
For residents from Georgia all the way to Pennsylvania, Monday afternoon will be the most critical window. Two main threats are developing:
- Strong, long-track tornadoes: Conditions are particularly favorable from South Carolina into southern Virginia for supercells that could produce strong tornadoes capable of staying on the ground for a long time.
- Destructive wind line: A robust line of storms will charge east toward the coast, packing particularly damaging winds. Expect gusts to exceed 70–75 mph, which is strong enough to snap large trees and cause widespread power outages across major metro areas.
Timing your Monday
The activity will start early in the morning across the Florida Panhandle and Georgia before intensifying and spreading north throughout the day.
The peak of the event for the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast—including cities like Philadelphia and Baltimore—is expected during the late afternoon and early evening hours.
Because these storms will be moving fast (over 50 mph), you may have very little time to react once a warning is issued. Make sure you download the FOX Weather App now and enable critical weather alerts so you can be alerted to severe weather, even while you're sleeping.
The Storm Prediction Center says the highest threat for damaging winds extends from Indiana to Mississippi later today.
The FOX Forecast Center is tracking a powerful squall line—a long wall of intense thunderstorms—that is expected to ignite this afternoon and race from the Mississippi Valley toward the Appalachians.
The primary threat with this system is destructive straight-line winds, which are expected to peak across northeastern Arkansas, southeastern Missouri, southern Illinois, western Kentucky, and Tennessee.
FOX Weather meteorologists warn that while widespread gusts of 60 mph are likely, the most intense parts of the line could see hurricane-force winds exceeding 75 mph, capable of snapping power poles and causing significant property damage.
The danger will increase between 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. CT as the storms quickly organize and charge eastward. While the wind is the main event, small but intense tornadoes could also spin up along the leading edge of this fast-moving line.
The threat remains high through the evening hours, eventually shifting into the Deep South overnight.
Thousands of residents across the Midwest and Northeast are still struggling in the dark following Friday’s vicious windstorm, and for many, the situation is about to get much worse.
According to PowerOutage.com, nearly 270,000 customers across the U.S. remain without electricity this morning. This number also includes significant outages in Hawaii due to a Kona Low hammering the islands and preemptive power shutoffs in Colorado due to the threat of wildfires.
Latest power outage tracker showing significant outages at this hour in the Great Lakes. (PowerOutage.com)
Ohio and Pennsylvania are currently bearing the brunt of these outages, with more than 140,000 combined customers still waiting for the lights to come back on after Friday's damaging gusts snapped poles and downed lines.
The timing couldn't be worse for these recovery efforts. As crews work to restore power from the previous storm, the new bomb cyclone is already beginning to lash these same regions. In Michigan and Ohio, where more than 100,000 people remain without power, the forecast now calls for a mix of heavy snow and freezing rain.
This fresh accumulation on already weakened trees and saturated soil will likely lead to a second wave of widespread outages through Monday.
The massive blizzard tearing through the nation’s midsection isn't just a headache for drivers; it’s creating a full-scale meltdown for air travel.
According to FlightAware, more than 2,130 flights have already been disrupted through Monday as heavy snow, ice, and fierce winds make it impossible for many major hubs to operate safely.
FlightAware reports more than 2,100 U.S. flights have already been disrupted by the massive storm through Monday.
Minneapolis and Chicago bear the brunt
As the center of the blizzard hammers the Upper Midwest, Minneapolis-St. Paul International (MSP) has become the epicenter of the travel chaos.
With over 600 cancellations already on the board today, the airport is struggling to keep runways clear amidst snow rates of 2 inches per hour.
Farther south, Chicago’s O’Hare (ORD) and Midway (MDW) are facing a double-edged sword: dealing with the blizzard's wind gusts to the north and the threat of severe thunderstorms to the south. Combined, the two Chicago hubs have seen nearly 250 cancellations as the storm system sweeps through the Great Lakes.
A ripple effect from the Heartland to the South
The disruptions aren't limited to the snow zone. Atlanta (ATL), one of the world's busiest airports, is already seeing nearly 100 delays and cancellations as the storm's severe weather side brings the threat of tornadoes and 70-mph winds to the South.
Travelers are being urged to check their flight status before heading to the airport, as the conveyor belt of severe weather is expected to keep flight boards lit up with red canceled text well into Monday night.
The FOX Forecast Center warns that as a powerful low-pressure system rapidly intensifies, it will collide with cold Canadian air to dump staggering totals, including 12–18 inches in Minneapolis, up to 2 feet in Green Bay, and a massive 3–4 feet in Marquette, Michigan.
Latest snow forecast from FOX Weather showing where more than 2 feet of snow is expected.
With powerful wind gusts of 60–70 mph expected to create blind whiteouts and widespread power outages, Blizzard Warnings now cover more than 11 million Americans from the Dakotas to Illinois.
While the heaviest snow hammers the north, dangerous ice is expected in areas like Milwaukee and Traverse City, where up to half an inch of freezing rain could coat power lines and roads, paralyzing the region well into the start of the work week.
Radar analysis shows bands of heavy snow moving northward over the Upper Midwest this morning.
Southeast Minnesota, central Wisconsin, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan are getting hammered this morning with intense, high-impact snow.
The FOX Forecast Center warns that bands of snow are acting like a fire hose over the region, dumping 1 to 2 inches of snow per hour in the heaviest bursts.
This extreme rate is enough to bury car tires in just a few hours and is creating dangerous whiteout conditions for drivers on major interstates.
Lightning detection networks indicate multiple lightning strikes over southeast Minnesota where intense snow is falling this morning.
Residents in southeast Minnesota are being treated to a rare and dramatic weather phenomenon this morning as thundersnow accompanies the arrival of a massive bomb cyclone.
Reports of lightning flashes and loud claps of thunder during intense snow bursts have surfaced along the I-90 corridor, particularly near Rochester and Winona, as the storm system rapidly intensifies over the region.
More than 200 million Americans are facing the threat of strong tornadoes, destructive winds, and large hail through Monday.
A massive and dangerous weather system is putting more than 200 million Americans on high alert. The FOX Forecast Center warns that a significant severe weather outbreak is brewing, threatening a huge swath of the country from the Heartland all the way to the Atlantic coast.
As a powerful bomb cyclone cranks up over the Midwest, it is pulling a surge of warm, unstable air from the Gulf of America, setting the stage for a volatile 48 hours of strong tornadoes and destructive winds.
Severe threat shifts from the Heartland to the East Coast
The setup for today is widespread and intense as the storm system marches from the Great Plains toward the Great Lakes. The Storm Prediction Center has placed a Level 3 out of 5 risk over the Mid-South and Ohio Valley for Sunday, focusing on cities like Nashville, Indianapolis, Memphis, Louisville, and Little Rock.
The primary concern for most will be a fierce squall line of thunderstorms packing straight-line winds over 70 mph—strong enough to flip semi-trucks and snap power poles.
However, the atmosphere is also primed for spinning storms, meaning tornadoes could embedded within that line or develop as individual, discrete storms ahead of it.
Major risk looms for the I-95 corridor Monday
As the system moves east, the danger level actually climbs. For Monday, the threat has been upgraded to a Level 4 out of 5, a rare and serious designation that now includes Washington, D.C. and surrounding metro areas.
Forecasters are increasingly concerned about the potential for long-track tornadoes—those that stay on the ground for several miles—and even more widespread wind damage.
This isn't just a one-and-done storm; it is a continuous conveyor belt of severe weather that won't let up until late Monday night.
Critical timing: afternoon starts and overnight dangers
The clock starts this afternoon between 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. CT, when the first storms are expected to fire up and quickly organize into a solid wall of weather.
A particularly dangerous phase of this event will occur late tonight as the threat shifts into the Deep South. While the main line hammers the north, separate and powerful supercell thunderstorms could develop across the Florida Panhandle, southeastern Alabama, and Georgia during the overnight hours.
This nighttime threat is especially risky, as tornadoes are harder to see and many people may be asleep when warnings are issued.
Millions of Americans are waking up to urgent weather alerts this morning as a massive bomb cyclone begins its assault on the heart of the country.
With approximately 22 million people currently under winter weather alerts, officials are warning that the combined force of record-breaking snow and hurricane-force wind gusts could effectively shut down large swaths of the Upper Midwest and Northern Plains through Monday.
The "bomb" explodes timing and intensity
The storm system, which is undergoing rapid bombogenesis via a sudden and extreme drop in atmospheric pressure, is currently centering its power over the Upper Mississippi Valley.
Meteorologists warn that the worst is yet to come for residents in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the Dakotas as blizzard conditions reach their height from Sunday afternoon through early Monday morning.
Snow will fall at rates of 2–3 inches per hour in the most intense bands, while gusts of 50–70 mph will create blinding whiteout conditions that will reduce visibility to zero on major transit corridors like I-90 and I-94.
Millions in the crosshairs
The scale of this event is staggering, stretching from the eastern Dakotas to Northern Michigan. Some states are advising everyone to not venture outside, with the Twin Cities and Green Bay bracing for up to 20 inches of snow.
In parts of Northern Michigan, lake-enhanced totals could reach a historic 3 feet, while the Northern Plains face life-threatening wind chills alongside nearly a foot of fresh accumulation.
Blizzard Warnings are in effect for more than 11 million Americans, including Minneapolis.
Live Coverage begins here