Heavy Rockies Snow and a Severe Threat Across the Southeast Mark Wednesday's Weather

A cross-country storm is bringing two very different hazards on Wednesday: heavy mountain snow in Colorado and a severe-weather threat across the Southeast, according to Fox Weather and National Weather Service outlooks.

The greatest severe-weather risk Wednesday covers parts of East Tennessee, eastern Alabama, southwestern North Carolina, northwestern South Carolina and much of northern and central Georgia, including Atlanta, before the storm brings downpours to the East Coast beginning Thursday.

In the central Colorado Rockies, a low-pressure system moving east from the Great Basin is drawing in moisture, with snowfall rates exceeding one inch per hour in some mountain areas and locally more than two inches per hour, according to the Weather Prediction Center outlook. There is a 50 to 70 percent probability of more than eight inches of snow above 10,000 feet, with the heaviest snow expected Wednesday evening into early Thursday.

The same outlook flagged a marginal risk of excessive rainfall across parts of the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys and southern Appalachians, with localized rainfall rates of one to 1.5 inches per hour and isolated flash flooding possible where storms repeat over the same areas.

Travelers in the Rockies should expect hazardous mountain driving Wednesday night, while residents in the Southeast should watch for severe thunderstorm warnings through the evening. This is a forward outlook for Wednesday only, not a recap of the weekend's Southwest and Florida flooding.