A significant Winter Storm Lola is forecast to develop over the United States on Tuesday and rapidly develop while moving across the central U.S. towards the East on Wednesday. An intense snow blizzard is forecast across the Upper Midwest into Ontario, Canada. For the Southern U.S., the storm will unfold, and a widespread severe weather outbreak will occur on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The weather pattern across the North American continent is turning progressive and dynamic again. Following a short period of mild weather, we emerged into a Meteorological Spring season 2025.
A deep cold wave will move across the nation mid-week, causing an intense snow blizzard in the northern States and a three-day severe weather outbreak in the South.
On Tuesday, a significant frontal system will emerge into the Great Plains, with a strengthening surface low moving across the Midwest and Mississippi Valley. Weather conditions will rapidly deteriorate, with a developing snow blizzard on the cold side and severe thunderstorms with tornadoes on the warm side of winter storm Lola.
This upper wave, which emerged over California over the weekend, was brought from the North Pacific into the Western U.S., and it can be seen on the water vapor satellite on Sunday. While the small wave is already seen across Oklahoma and Texas, the real deal is the enormous wave emerging over California.
The West Coast wave will move due east across the Rockies and Great Plains toward the Mid-Mississippi Valley on Tuesday and Wednesday, deepening and intensifying an associated winter storm.
The video animation below provides a quick overview of the storm dynamics across the Contiguous U.S. over the next 5 days. An intense winter storm will push central pressure to near 980 mbar Tuesday night into Wednesday, producing severe weather oubreak across the South and snow blizzard across the Midwest.
Let’s examine the details of Winter Storm Lola’s evolution. Tens of millions along the storm’s path will experience wild and significant weather conditions from Tuesday through Thursday.
A deep wave emerges into the U.S., develops a significant Winter Storm Lola on Tuesday
A deep upper wave that sat over the West Coast on Sunday will move east across the Rockies on Monday. It will then emerge over the Great Plains early Tuesday and begin its deepening phase. A significant cold core will develop, introducing a sharp pressure and temperature gradient towards the ground.
An associated surface low will occur over Oklahoma and Kansas, quickly pushing its central pressure into the 990s and continuing to strengthen into a Winter Storm, Lola. The low will move east across the Plains and mid-Mississippi Valley Tuesday night.
It is forecast to reach a mature stage and deepen its central pressure to near 980 mbar or even lower by Wednesday morning, fully developed as a powerful winter storm. Weather conditions will be extreme on both the cold and warm side of the low.
Tuesday night, the low will be located over Missouri, and a cold front will accompany it from grazing into the warm sector with a much warmer air mass across the southern States. Severe thunderstorms will develop, posing a threat of tornadoes, large hail, and damaging winds. Snowfall will intensify across Nebraska to Minnesota on the cold side of the winter storm.
By Wednesday morning, the snow blizzard will significantly intensify across the Upper Midwest, especially in Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Intense snowfall with near-zero visibility is expected.
Strong to severe winds will also develop across the central Plains after the center low.
In the wake of the deep low, a much colder air mass will be dragged from the north, introducing a sharp contrast towards the warmer side of the cyclone to the east. This is also why the weather conditions will be wild and rapidly changing while the winter storm advances across the U.S. on Wednesday.
Cold temperatures will be spread across the Great Plains and Missisippi Valley, reaching the Gulf coast by the evening. With strong to locally severe winds, real-feel windchill temperatures will be much lower.
However, a pretty warm day is expected ahead of the low across the Great Lakes and Northeast U.S. before it emerges from the west Wednesday night.
Fresh snow is forecast to accumulate from Colorado to Wisconsin and into southern Ontario, Canada. Aligned with the timing of winter storm Lola developing on Tuesday and along its path across the nation on Wednesday.
Heavy snowfall will lead to significant snow accumulations from Iowa across southern Minnesota to Wisconsin. By Wednesday afternoon, there will be around a foot of snow locally.
The following 2m temperature chart indicates that strong winds will overspread the cold sector behind the surface low on Wednesday, pushing south across the Great Plains.
Tight isolines across Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin also indicate that the snow blizzard will be intense. Expect significant traffic interruptions from heavy snow and near-zero visibility from blowing snow.
On Wednesday, a much warmer air mass is seen across the warm sector over the Southeast U.S., fueling the eastward racing severe thunderstorms along the leading cold front.
Winter Storm forecast to produce a Severe Weather Outbreak across the southern States
A combination of a significant upper cold wave, clashing with warmer sub-tropical air mass, a vigorous frontal system develops. A winter storm Lola will introduce a widespread severe weather outbreak across the South and Southeast U.S., from Texas and Oklahoma to Mississippi and Georgia to Carolinas from Monday through Wednesday.
On Monday, during the winter storm’s initial developing stages, severe storms are likely across Texas and Oklahoma. A few tornadoes, severe winds, and significant hail events are possible.
With the deepening of the low, conditions will rapidly deteriorate on Tuesday as the winter storm advances east. A sharp pressure and temperature contrast throughout the atmosphere will strengthen the jet stream aloft, supporting organized severe storms along the front.
By Tuesday evening, violent southerly winds will overspread the warm sector across Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama to western Kentucky and Tennessee. Combined with moderate instability.
This will provide a volatile, sheared environment for strong tornadoes and damaging winds with the most intense thunderstorms.
Attached is a categorical outlook issued by the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) for Tuesday afternoon and night hours. A widespread severe weather outbreak is expected to develop along the leading cold front.
Severe thunderstorms will pose a significant risk of tornadoes ( including strong ones) and severe winds. The most significant threats will be across the SLGT (Slight) and the ENH (Enhanced) risk areas.
This includes eastern Oklahoma and Texas, southern Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama from Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.
The convective activity along the cold front racing across the South and Southeast U.S. will continue east on Wednesday. A potential severe weather outbreak will continue across Alabama and Georgia to northern Florida and the East Coast across the Carolinas.
Due to the fast-moving winter storm, the amount of rain along the frontal system will not be particularly high. However, from Tuesday through Thursday, 1 to 2 inches of rain can accumulate across the South and Southeast U.S.
The highest amounts of precipitation will be along the path of the center low from eastern Kansas and Nebraska into Iowa and Wisconsin. While most precipitation will be snow, some areas will receive up to 3 inches.
Cold weather spreads behind the frontal system and reaches Florida and Southeast U.S. late this week
The winter storm Lola will mature by Wednesday evening, meaning its central pressure will reach its lowest point. On Thursday, it will begin a weakening phase as it moves across the Great Lakes into Southeast Canada.
The cold blast associated with the system will spread throughout the Eastern United States by Thursday morning, bringing temperatures around 10 degrees below normal.
Thursday and Friday will be significantly colder than the previous days, with temperatures 10 to 20 °F below average across the Southeast U.S. and East Coast—more than 40 degrees colder than the days before.
Around 10 degrees colder than average will also be along the eastern Gulf Coast and Florida on Friday.
We are closely monitoring the evolution of the ongoing pattern and will update you accordingly. Stay tuned.
Wxcharts, Windy, and Pivotalweather provided images used in this article.