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(CNN) - An intense and potentially historic autumn snowstorm is expected to shed several centimeters of snow as of Wednesday in parts of the north-central United States.
It begins this Wednesday night and Thursday, when extremely low temperatures arrive from the north.
MIRA: Record snow amounts in Montana
Then, a cold stream will leave the Rocky Mountains and continue northeast through the Plains, leaving a layer of snow throughout the region.
Denver temperatures could plummet
A drastic drop in temperature on Wednesday will make Denver feel that it has gone from autumn to winter in 24 hours.
Temperatures there will fall from a maximum of around 26.7 degrees Celsius on Wednesday to below zero for this Thursday's maximum.
Much of Colorado will go from dangerous fire conditions to a freeze warning in just a few hours.
Once temperatures drop, historical lows are likely to be broken in much of the region.
This temperature drop will begin in the Northern Rocky Mountains and plunge southward to parts of northern Texas this Friday morning. Clocks and freeze warnings range from Nebraska to Texas.
Other notable temperature drops this week include:
- Yellow: from 29 degrees to -1 degrees in 36 hours
- Minneapolis: from 18 degrees to 0.5 degrees in 33 hours
- Kansas City: from 21 degrees to 5 degrees in 15 hours
- Albuquerque: from 21 degrees to -1 degrees in 15 hours
- Oklahoma City: from 23 degrees to 3.8 degrees in 18 hours
- Lubbock: from 26 to 1.1 in 16 hours
- Chicago: from 20 degrees to 3.3 degrees in 18 hours
Snow levels could break records
The National Meteorological Service office in Bismarck refers to this storm as a "potentially historic winter storm in October," because parts of 10 states are under some kind of surveillance, warning or winter warning from the North Rockies to the northern plains. .
MIRA: What summer? In Colorado, 60 cm of snow fell on the first day of summer
The storm could break the October snow records in much of the Dakotas, because it intensifies on Wednesday night and sheds 30 cm to 60 cm of snow until Thursday night.
Along with the snow, gusts of wind of 64 to 80 km / h or more are expected, producing possible snowstorm conditions and making traveling extremely dangerous. Together with the blowing snow, the winds could tear down trees and power lines, something that would cause power outages and zero visibility conditions on the roads. You must be prepared for dangerous road conditions and delays at the airport until the end of the week.
Snow will continue until this Friday for portions of eastern North and South Dakota, before moving to portions of Minnesota for Saturday. The storm system intensifies and moves this Wednesday night to the northern plains, with winter storm warnings issued there and 30 cm to 60 cm of snow are expected.
Extreme winds could cause conditions of zero visibility due to snow
Wind gusts of more than 32 km / h can be expected throughout the Denver region, with parts of Montana with gusts of more than 48 km / h. In addition to the fall of tree branches, these winds will also contribute to blowing snow conditions, decreasing visibility on the roads.
The snowstorm for Saturday will reach east of Minneapolis before the system moves to Canada.
Monica Garrett and Sara Tonks of CNN contributed to this report.
Snow storm