Major winter storm expected to hit much of US before Christmas

A major winter storm system is expected to strike much of the US days before Christmas, potentially snarling holiday travel as motorists and air travelers contend with heavy snow and powerful winds.

The arrival of an air mass from the north will consume much of the country this upcoming week according to the National Weather Service. Between Tuesday and Saturday, temperature highs are expected to be 10 to 35 degrees below normal from the north-west to the eastern half of the US.

In the northern plains and upper midwest, the temperature could plunge into the teens. The eastern seaboard is expected to see temperatures fall into the single digits and teens.

The southern US will not be spared, with temperatures possibly dropping in parts of Florida and Texas. According to the Weather Channel, there is a chance of below-freezing temperatures in the northern gulf coast.

There could be more weather extremes. The type of setup that can lead to ground blizzards in parts of the central states is what AccuWeather's senior long-range meteorologist said.

Jon Porter of AccuWeather warned that this storm will likely become intense, feeding on the extremely sharp variation between the surging arctic air arriving from the central states and relatively warm air across the south-eastern US The risk for heavy snow and rain, gusty winds, coastal flooding, severe storms and even tornadoes on the southern side of the storm has been experienced in major east coast storms over the decades.

The system will come after a powerful storm dumped snow across portions of the eastern US this weekend, leaving about 144,000 electricity customers without power. Many roads in Maine were impassible and some residents might be blacked out until Monday or Tuesday.

The National Weather Service said on Sunday that there would be heavy lake effect snow in western and north-central New York. The wind chill could be as low as -60F in the north.

A local ABC affiliate reported that the storm system is expected to descend several days after an earthquake in Texas that was felt hundreds of miles away. Over the last month, there have been at least two west Texas temblors of at least 6.0-magnitude.

The state oil and gas investigators started looking at that seism on November 16. According to The Texas Tribune, there has been an increase in the number of earthquakes in west Texas.

There has been an increase in the number of earthquakes in the past year. The outlet reported that oil companies frequently dispose of this salty, contaminated waste underground.