The first significant severe weather event of the year will impact the country Tuesday from Dixie Alley to the upper Midwest.
In the south, the National Weather Service has placed a level 3 out of 5 severe weather risk which blankets nearly 60 million people from Texas to the Southeast. Storms on Tuesday could contain strong EF-2 tornadoes with winds at over 100 miles per hour.
This same storm complex is responsible for producing a large wind event triggering a haboob or intense dust storm over New Mexico on Monday.
(Photo: National Weather Service El Paso, Texas Office)
In New Orleans, the strong winds anticipated Tuesday have canceled many Mardi Gras celebrations, forcing the famed Fat Tuesday parades to start unusually early. Most parade floats will end by early Tuesday morning, according to the New Orleans Police Department.
This large storm will have a wintry side to it, producing blizzard alerts through Wednesday over seven states from Kansas to Minnesota.
Parts of the midwest and central plains are expected to see wind gusts as high as 60 miles per hour reducing visibility to nothing causing major travel disruptions for over 15 million people.
The entire storm complex will impact cities from Washington, D.C., to Jacksonville, Florida, on Wednesday, and another round of strong and severe thunderstorms before moving out to sea Wednesday night.