Winter welcome: Snow blankets Rockies, strong winds blowing toward Midwest

The calendar says November, but that doesn’t mean it’s too late for severe thunderstorms.

Weather officials eventually downgraded the threat and instead issued severe-weather warnings for south-central Iowa and northern Missouri.

That could include thunderstorms, hail, strong wind and there is a possibility of tornados. Dew points are not that high so tornadoes might be the exception not the rule.

The storm is part of a massive system that moved into Nebraska earlier Wednesday after dropping a dozen inches of snow in the Colorado Rockies. It will be in effect from 6 p.m. Wednesday until 6 p.m. Thursday.

The storm is expected to produce wind gusts upwards of 50 miles per hour, making it hard for large vehicles to drive.

The National Weather Service got word of a roof blown off a house in Pomona in Howell County along with downed power lines down and numerous trees blown over. No major delays were reported.

The Wyoming Department of Transportation declared an emergency after communities were overwhelmed by travelers forced off Interstate 80 between Evanston and Cheyenne. Northeastern Colorado and western Kansas and Nebraska expected 6 inches of snow and wind gusts up to 60 miles per hour overnight – a combination that can cause white-out conditions.

“Probably the worst has passed”, said Stephen Corfidi, a meteorologist at the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla.

As the system spreads east, its southern portion will run into warmer, humid air and raise the potential for severe thunderstorms and even tornadoes, he said. Gehring says the winds will be coming from the west, meaning shoreline locations along Lake MI should not see high waves crashing on them.

“It’s a huge, typical November storm”, Kevin Roth, lead forecaster for The Weather Channel, told NBC News.

The Lincoln forecast calls for a high of 55 on Thursday.