As a potent storm begins to cross the United States, strong winds will get kicked up across the Desert Southwest as snow returns to the Intermountain West Tuesday into Wednesday.
Dramatic changes are on the way for many across the Desert Southwest and southern Rockies.
While calm conditions prevail amid building heat in the Southwest, rain and gusty winds will focus on the Northwest into Monday.
Western and central Oregon will endure the heaviest rain and strong winds on Monday with flash flooding a concern along and west of Interstate 5. Damaging winds may buffet the coast and communities just east of the Cascade Mountains.
Monday night into Wednesday, adverse and disruptive weather will shift over more of the West with strong winds targeting the Desert Southwest and snow proving to be a double-edge sword in the Rocky Mountains.
Strong winds may cut power, overturn high-profile vehicles in Desert Southwest
No rain is in the forecast for the Desert Southwest during the upcoming days, but the impending storm will cause winds to ramp up Tuesday into Wednesday.
The strongest winds on Tuesday can produce gusts of 40 to 60 mph from Nevada and the upper deserts of Southern California to northern Arizona and southern Utah. Strong winds may also whip through the Grapevine corridor of I-5.
Such winds can disrupt travel and cause sporadic power outages and localized damage to neighborhood trees and awnings in Barstow, California; Las Vegas, Nevada; St. George, Utah; and Flagstaff, Arizona.
The gusty weather will extend as far south as Phoenix, Yuma and Tucson, Arizona.
Motorists, especially those in high-profile vehicles, will have to remain alert for dangerous crosswinds when traveling on stretches of interstates 15 and 40 through the region.
"The high winds may be especially troublesome over the passes and wide-open flat locations," according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski. "Winds may be strong enough to kick up dust in dry areas, which can be an added concern for motorists."
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The risk for strong winds to disrupt travel, cut power and cause some damage will shift into New Mexico, western Texas and the central High Plains on Wednesday.
Officials may be forced to put restrictions in place for high-profile vehicles traveling on I-25 from Pueblo, Colorado, to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and El Paso, Texas, due to the dangerous crosswinds.
While howling winds wrapping around the storm on its northern and western flank can lead to blizzard conditions across the North Central states, very dry air will combine with the winds to trigger a high fire danger over New Mexico and western Texas at midweek.
Residents are being urged to avoid outdoor burning and throwing cigarette butts out windows, as well as using extreme caution with any other activity that involves sparks.
Throughout the Desert Southwest, the storm will put the brakes on the building heat to start the week. Temperatures by midweek will return to more seasonable levels.
Wind blows dust around the site of an event for Faraday Future, Wednesday, April 13, 2016, in North Las Vegas, Nevada. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Snowstorm to be double-edged sword in Rocky Mountains
The same storm kicking up the strong winds will also spread rain and snow from Northern California to the Rocky Mountains Monday night into Wednesday.
Smooth travel through Interstate 80's Donner Summit to start Monday will be replaced by wet, then slushy and slippery conditions as steadier rain changes to snow at night and into Tuesday.
As the storm strengthens, heavier snow and greater disruptions to travel are anticipated in the Rockies.
Latest indications point toward a general 8-16 inches of snow in the mountains from Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming to the Wasatch Mountains in Utah and the San Juan Mountains in Colorado Tuesday into Wednesday.
There can be an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 30 inches in the mountains of Wyoming and Colorado.
While the combination of the burying snow and gusty winds can bring difficult travel and blizzard conditions during the storm, the fresh snow will be a late-season boon for the ski resorts.
Blizzard conditions may continue to unfold eastward into the North Central states.
The storm, however, should be a mostly rain event in the lower elevations of Salt Lake City, Utah, and Boise, Idaho.
Download the free AccuWeather app to find out how the storm will affect your community.
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