The Groundhog Day blizzard [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 5 ] was a powerful and historic winter storm that affected large swaths of the United States and Canada from January 31 to February 2, , especially on Groundhog Day. The Chicago area saw Blizzard conditions affected many other large cities along the storm's path, including Tulsa , Oklahoma City , Kansas City , St. The central Illinois National Weather Service in Lincoln, Illinois , issued only their fourth blizzard warning in the forecast office's year history.
Snowfall amounts of 20 to 28 inches 51 to 71 cm were forecast for much of Northern and Western Illinois. An ice storm ahead of the winter storm's warm front also brought hazardous conditions to much of the American Midwest and New England, and many areas saw well over 1 in 2.
Several tornado touchdowns were reported in Texas [ 20 ] and a tornado watch was issued for parts of Alabama , [ 21 ] ahead of the cold front in the warm sector of the storm.
In addition, thundersnow was recorded at some locations, including downtown Chicago. A High-pressure system with a maximum pressure of 1, hectopascals A low-pressure system from the Pacific Ocean later came ashore over Northern California and crossed the Rocky Mountains , merging with an Alberta clipper low and a developing Texas low , drawing moisture from the northwestern Gulf of Mexico.
The storm later intensified and moved northeast, tanked, and developed a long warm front stretching toward the New England states, and moving northeast along this jet stream track. Lake effect snow events started over Lake Ontario and Lake Michigan from northeasterly winds.
