Major storm slams East Coast after battering the Midwest

Weather alerts are in place from the High Plains to New England.

January 18, 2020, 2:29 PM

A major storm has now slammed the Northeast Saturday afternoon after battering the western states and the Midwest.

Yesterday, Alpine Meadows Ski Resort in Northern California received 25 inches of snow within 24 hours between Thursday and Friday morning, resulting in an avalanche that killed one person and seriously injured another.

In Nebraska, state troopers responded to 55 crashes, one resulted in a fatality, Nebraska Stata Patrol reported.

This morning, blizzard conditions hammered parts of the High Plains and Upper Midwest from Iowa to North Dakota, where snow is falling and winds are gusting above 50 mph.

Alerts are in place Saturday morning for millions of Americans from the High Plains to New England.

PHOTO: Major storm
Major storm
ABC News

As of 3:30 a.m. Saturday, radar showed hard winter weather affecting many major U.S. interstates, with icy conditions from Iowa through Ohio, heavy snow further north into the Great Lakes region, and heavy rain on the southern side of the storm.

The storm moved east rather quickly this morning, reaching the Northeast by midday.

PHOTO: Major storm
Major storm
ABC News

The storm will impact a large area of the country bringing potential flooding from the Midwest south to the Tennessee River Valley, icy conditions along the mixing line stretching across a portion of the Midwest into the northeast, and snow accumulations on the northern side of the system.

Gusty winds up to 50 mph will cause blowing snow, reducing visibility and making travel especially dangerous through Saturday.

The highest snow totals are likely to reach the 1-foot mark across the northern Great Lakes and into interior New England.

PHOTO: Rain and snow
Rain and snow
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Ice may accrue up to a half inch in some locations across the Midwest and into portions of the Appalachian Mountain Range and foothills by Saturday afternoon.

Even in areas where snow totals aren’t too high, gusty winds may result in blowing snow and hazardous driving conditions.

Travel along many U.S. interstates will be difficult Saturday morning through the overnight before conditions start to improve by Sunday morning as the system moves offshore.

Gusty winds up to 50 mph will impact a large swath of the country this weekend from the northern Plains to the East Coast.

PHOTO: Wind chill
Wind chill
ABC News

Saturday morning wind chills are bitter cold across the Northeast, with a wind chill values well below zero in parts of interior New England.

The cold air will remain into the weekend and settles into the place for the first half of the week with minimum temperatures in the teens and single digits Monday through Wednesday from the Midwest to the Northeast.

ABC News' Jason Volack contributed to this report.

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