Winter storm bringing snow, ice and tornadoes, expected to wallop US this week

A strong storm moving through the intermountain West and upper Midwest, with far-reaching impacts to the Gulf of Mexico, will bring blizzard conditions to the North and potential tornadoes in the South.

Storms, threatening destructive winds and tornadoes, will develop by noon on Monday from Houston, Texas, to Shreveport, Louisiana, building up throughout the afternoon and getting bigger by Monday evening.

Thunderstorms will develop ahead of a cold front making its way through southeast Texas late Monday night into Tuesday morning, according to the National Weather Service.

Over 3 feet of snow fell in the Sierra mountains in California over the weekend. According to the UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab, up to 7.5 inches of snow fell per hour on Saturday in the Sierras.

Sixteen states are under winter and/or wind alerts, with a winter storm expected to bring near-blizzard conditions to the upper Midwest on Monday and Tuesday.