Trifecta of winter storms set to blast 200 million people in 40 states with ice and snow

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A trio of disruptive winter storms is set to cover most of the United States with ice and snow this week.

Just days after a major weekend storm blanketed the Midwest and East Coast, forecasts are now tracking multiple weather events that will affect residents in the southern Plains all the way to the Northeast.

Starting Monday night and lasting into the weekend, the three storms could end up impacting nearly 200 million people across 40 states.

The first storm in this wintry trio is expected to drench the southern Plains starting Monday night, spreading over parts of Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas before pushing towards the East Coast.

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly issued a verbal state of disaster emergency on Sunday, February, 9 in anticipation of the storm.

AccuWeather meteorologist Alex Duffus warns that the rain will quickly transition into over a foot of snow by Wednesday.

'The first storm from Monday night to Wednesday night will occur as cold air expands farther south and meets up with moisture spreading north from the Gulf,' Duffus said.

'This can lead to accumulating snow that may impact millions from the Plains to the mid-Atlantic states and southern New England, with the potential for significant travel impacts across the big cities in the region from late Tuesday into Tuesday night.'

The first of three winter storms this week is expected to impact millions in the Gulf Coast states Monday night into Tuesday.

Areas like Springfield, Missouri and Louisville, Kentucky will likely see 1-3 inches of snow, while other regions may see more than 6 inches fall by Wednesday.

Meteorologists say the week's first storm could drop up to three inches of rain across the Mississippi Valley and surrounding Gulf Coast states on Tuesday.

As the storm moves north, areas of Missouri, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Virginia may see several inches of ice and snow.

AccuWeather's worst case scenario predicts up to 14 inches accumulating in some areas between Monday night and Wednesday morning.

The week's second storm is likely to strike many of the same areas in the South, but will also cover major cities up north in heavy snow.

'Another storm is expected to closely follow on the heels of the early week storm, impacting many of the same areas beginning on Wednesday,' Duffus reports.

The Wednesday-Thursday storm is expected to dump ice and snow on several cities, including Chicago, Detroit, and Buffalo.

Forecasts are predicting between eight and 12 inches of snow in parts of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin. 

New York, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts will be in the path of the icier part of the storm, which will finally clear out of the New England area on Friday.

The second storm, developing Tuesday night into Wednesday, will cover even more of the United States with freezing rain and snow.

Snow is expected to impact several states, from Colorado to Maine, with forecasts predicting up to 12 inches of snow in the Midwest.

A third storm is in the forecast for the weekend, potentially bringing more ice and snow to the Central U.S., East Coast, and New England.

The third storm in this week-long parade of winter events is currently on track for the weekend.

Starting in the Central states again, another band of precipitation will likely move east, blanketing the East Coast and New England with ice and snow on Saturday and Sunday. 

AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jon Porter adds that the country should prepare for even more nasty weather this month.

'It's been a disruptive start to February, and this onslaught of winter storms is expected to stick around for most of the month.'

Much of the U.S. is still cleaning up after a widespread winter storm blew through 27 states over the weekend.

Over this past weekend, a major winter storm unleashed up to a foot of snow in some regions as it barreled across 27 states, creating treacherous driving conditions and power outages.

The storm started this past Friday, spreading snow across the Northern Plains during the day and into the upper Midwest that night.

The storms battered the East Coast with both ice and snow on Saturday.

North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Wisconsin, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania were also impacted by the severe weekend storm.

Meteorologists said Friday that the storm, named Garnett, 'might be the biggest storm of the winter season' for portions of the Northeast.

Making matters worse, a large swath of the U.S. was still reeling from Winter Storm Freya that hit last Wednesday into Thursday, with Garnett hitting many of these areas with even higher snow totals.

Meteorologists are attributing all of this wintry weather to the positioning of a jet stream that is funneling the storms across the country and into the Northeast.

According to CNN, this river of air in our atmosphere is currently locked in an almost perfect line across the U.S., flowing from west to east.

This has kept temperatures down and the conditions just right for dangerous rain, sleet, and snow.