A potent late-April snowstorm is forecast to dump up to 9 inches of snow across a 1,200-mile stripe of the Midwest and Great Lakes states over the weekend.
"A stripe of heavy snow is forecast this weekend from eastern South Dakota across a portion of the Upper Midwest into southern lower Michigan," the National Weather Service said.
Winter storm watches have been posted by the National Weather Service for parts of Montana as well as southeastern Minnesota, northern Iowa and southern Wisconsin, the Weather Channel reported. More than 4 million people live where winter storm watches have been posted.
The weather service office in La Crosse, Wisconsin, said that hourly snow rates could be in the 1 to 2 inch per hour range at times. If this occurs, a slushy snow accumulation would make travel difficult."
The biggest cities to see significant snow are in Wisconsin, including Madison (4-8 inches) and Milwaukee (2-6 inches.).
In Michigan, Grand Rapids should see about 4 inches while Detroit picks up about 2 inches. Grand Rapids could see its biggest snowfall so late in the season since 1963.
Further east, "there is the possibility of wet snow or at least wet snow mixing in with the rain during Saturday night in northwestern Pennsylvania and western New York state," said AccuWeather meteorologist Brian Wime.