UNITED STATES - Recent reports from AccuWeather relayed by Yahoo! News show a wild storm blasting severe weather, blizzards, and high winds across the central United States. Nearly 250,000 square miles were predicted to see thunderstorms into Wednesday night, with severe weather expected to impact St. Louis, Detroit, Nashville, and Columbus, Ohio.

The same storm is bringing blizzard conditions, according to the source, along with a vast area of high winds. Yahoo! News noted that, while a major tornado outbreak is not currently anticipated, the handful of twisters that form can bring dangerous conditions and inflict significant damage should any strike a populated area. There is a moderate risk for the potential of severe thunderstorms producing tornadoes in larger portions of Illinois and Indiana.

Severe thunderstorms are also expected to occur as far north as southeastern Iowa, near the southern tier of Wisconsin, part of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan and southwestern Ontario, as well as the central portions of Mississippi and Alabama. Meteorologists have noted the potential for large hail, downpours, flash flooding, and powerful straight-line wind gusts. As a result, there is some potential for power outages and property damage in the affected regions.

As we reported earlier this week, powerful winds topping 70 mph in portions of Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Kansas, and Colorado helped kick up dust and spread new wildfires over the southern Plains on Tuesday. On the northwestern flank of the storm, snow has accumulated from Colorado to southeastern Minnesota and central Wisconsin as of yesterday, with some locations receiving as much as 6-12 inches of snow during the storm’s duration. Even heavier snow is expected to fall on parts of northern Michigan and Ontario with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 30 inches.

Starting yesterday, blizzard warnings also went into effect for 600 miles in a swath from southwestern Kansas to southeastern Minnesota, with low visibility and high winds affecting transportation on interstates 35, 70, 80, and 90. In addition to the risk to lives and property, the multifaceted storm is expected to create widespread travel problems, the sources noted, as blizzard conditions can lead to road closures that may affect several major highway arteries that connect the Midwest with the West.

This current storm is also leading to a new storm along the Atlantic coast today, which will trigger severe weather along part of the I-95 corridor during the afternoon and evening and accumulate snow across the interior of the Northeast from later Thursday night to Friday. ANUK will continue to bring the latest weather updates to your inbox, so stay tuned.