On its way to becoming a major Nor'easter off the Northeast coast, a potent storm will slam places just east of the Colorado and New Mexico Rockies with a major snowstorm and spread dangerous thunderstorms across the southern Plains and South during the next two days. The raging Nor'easter will then blast the Northeast coast with flooding rain and gale-force winds, while a historical snowstorm could be in store for the interior.

Our Severe Weather Center's page displays all the watches and warnings related to the massive storm that, when compared to the system seen creeping out of northern New England on the Northeast Regional Radar, will prove to be the stronger of the two. The storm will be responsible for a widespread outbreak of severe weather before strengthening into a major Nor'easter off the Northeast coast.

The Southwest Regional News story states that residents across the southern Plains should be prepared for the storm to trigger intense thunderstorms capable of producing tornadoes, damaging winds and large hail today. The South Regional News story reports that the severe weather will shift over East Texas and the lower Mississippi Valley tonight before trekking through the South during the weekend.

Our Severe Weather Center warns that these thunderstorms will be dangerous, and all vital weather alerts and tornado sirens should not been taken lightly. The severe weather will pose a greater threat to lives across East Texas, the lower Mississippi Valley and the Southeast since the intense thunderstorms, including tornadoes, will erupt at night. Extra efforts should be taken to avoid sleeping through any important warnings across these areas.

North of the severe weather, a snowstorm will get underway east of the Colorado and northern New Mexico mountains. According to the Midwest Regional News story, the storm tapping into rich Gulf of Mexico moisture will produce 6 to 12 inches of snow from far northeastern New Mexico to southwestern Kansas today into early tonight. Travel, both on the ground and in the air, will be hazardous in this region not only due to the heavy accumulating snow, but also because visibility will drop tremendously in blowing snow.

When the storm strengthens into a major Nor'easter off the Northeast coast by the end of the weekend, a reappearance of wet snow will be definite across far northern New England Sunday night into Monday. The East Regional News story discusses that the difference between a deluge of rain and a burying and potentially record-breaking snowstorm over the rest of the interior Northeast will depend on the exact track of the storm.

Wherever the wet snow falls, our Winter Weather Center is warning that the weight of the snow, which will be loaded with moisture, could cause roofs to fail and may be responsible for power outages as power lines and tree limbs fall. The threat for flooding will quickly follow the storm's passage as temperatures moderate.

East of the threat for a late-season snowstorm, the East Regional News story also states that a flooding rain will begin to spread over the eastern mid-Atlantic states and coastal parts of New England Sunday with Monday's BostonMarathon possibly being adversely affected by the storm. Gale-force winds howling to the north of the storm will blast the immediate shoreline and bring a threat of coastal flooding and beach erosion.