A coast-to-coast storm is bringing heavy snowfall, powerful winds, the threat of thunderstorms and other extreme weather events across the US.
Some western states, including Montana, Wyoming and South Dakota are expecting up to 2ft of snow.
Other states in the south, meanwhile, are facing a potential tornado outbreak.
The storm could affect millions of residents in nearly every state in the contiguous US, experts said.
“It’s a fairly vigorous storm system,” said Rich Otto, a meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center. “This one is a little larger than your average winter storm.”
The worst of the weather was expected to hit on Monday night and into Tuesday, bringing gusty winds over 40mph (64km/h) and heavy snowfall to the central and northern High Plains, a region of the US that includes eastern Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota and Nebraska, Mr Otto said.
Blizzard warnings from the National Weather Service are in effect for all of those states, as well as Colorado. Those are triggered by winds of at least 35mph accompanied by heavy snowfall.
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