Morning Express with Robin Meade

Parts of Washington D.C. are already shut down because of a major snowstorm aiming right for the area.

This is the same system that hammered the Midwest.

Another massive winter storm has the upper Midwest in its frozen grips.

And get ready, because the nasty weather is going to slam Chicago, then move all the way to Washington D.C.

Drivers were trapped on a Texas highway for more than nine hours as the second winter storm in a week hammered the middle of the country. 

Almost every road in the Texas panhandle was impassable yesterday. The state even told most snowplow drivers to stay off the roads.

Hurricane Rina has changed little in the past 12 hours, but is right on the cusp of being a major hurricane. The winds all night and into this morning were around 110 mph, a Cat. 2 (major hurricanes are Cat 3 and above, with winds of more than 110 mph). The satellite presentation looks pretty good, with the outflow clouds blowing out in a circle. That’s an indication to me that the storm is not being disturbed by any wind shear yet, and still has a good chance of strengthening a little further before it hits or brushes into the northern Yucatan Peninsula tomorrow. Cancun and Cozumel are under hurricane warnings right now. Rina has been crawling to the West this morning, but once it gets a little closer to the Westerly’s it should pick up it’s forward speed and bend towards Cuba or the FL Straights. The land interaction near Cancun, wind shear, and cooler water temps should buzz down the hurricane’s strength in about 36 hours, and that’s great news. The FL keys and Southern FL may start feeling the effects of this storm by the weekend, but by that time Rina should be down to a tropical storm. I’ll update you again tomorrow on the strength/path.

The other big story is the major snow storm over the Rockies. Denver (again, record high of 80F on Monday) has switched from rain to snow and could see around a foot pile up around the metro area by this evening! The storm itself should slide into the Plains tonight and take the snow with it, but rain and snow will also hit WY, NM, and the OK/TX panhandles. I’ll have the radar and warnings for you.

Check out the path of Rina from the National Hurricane Center… looks like one of Carlos’ tee box shots. SLICE!

Hurricane Rina is looking haggard, and that’s great news for Cancun. Yesterday the storm starting gulping in dry air from the north and that started her decline. Rina should hit the NE coast of the Yucatan Peninsula tonight or tomorrow morning, and then head East towards Cuba. By this time the southwest wind shear will be cutting what’s left of the storm down even further, and at this point it doesn’t appear to be a threat to S FL or the US. I’ll have the forecast from the NHC for you on the show.

How’s it going everybody? I'm watching a powerful early season snow maker in the Rockies this morning. Rain is also circulating around this thing from ID/WY/WA/OR/CA to AZ and NM. A few break away showers are spilling into OK and KS, but the severe weather will occur north of there this afternoon. The Front Range will get the storms today that produce large hail and gusty winds as the energy heads East out of the mountains. Winter storm warnings are in effect for UT and CO right now, looking at an additional 6-12” of snow today!

The plains will see the wind howl from the SW, so red flag warnings have been issued for the upper MW to the Central Plains. Cold temps are back in the NE with frost/freeze warnings. The SE will be mostly dry except for the FL Coast. The steady E wind will hammer away today bringing in some pockets of rain from the Keys to J’ville. With that High pressure anchored north of you through the weekend, I’m thinking that wind direction/speed won’t change for a few days.

How’s it going everybody? I'm watching a powerful early season snow maker in the Rockies this morning. Rain is also circulating around this thing from ID/WY/WA/OR/CA to AZ and NM. A few break away showers are spilling into OK and KS, but the severe weather will occur north of there this afternoon. The Front Range will get the storms today that produce large hail and gusty winds as the energy heads East out of the mountains. Winter storm warnings are in effect for UT and CO right now, looking at an additional 6-12” of snow today!

The plains will see the wind howl from the SW, so red flag warnings have been issued for the upper MW to the Central Plains. Cold temps are back in the NE with frost/freeze warnings. The SE will be mostly dry except for the FL Coast. The steady E wind will hammer away today bringing in some pockets of rain from the Keys to J’ville. With that High pressure anchored north of you through the weekend, I’m thinking that wind direction/speed won’t change for a few days.