A potent winter storm will deliver snow and severe weather to southern parts of the country this week

A developing storm system will bring wintry precipitation and spring-like thunderstorms to southern parts of the country early this week. This storm system is evolving near the Four Corners region this evening and will continue to strengthen on Monday before moving into the Southern Plains on Tuesday.

Under this storm system and on the backside, it'll have enough dynamics and cold air to produce wet snow on Tuesday from the Texas Panhandle, parts of west Texas, north Texas, and Oklahoma, and eventually spreading into southern Kansas, northwestern Arkansas, and Missouri late Tuesday into Wednesday.

This is where a few to several inches of snow could fall. Ahead of the winter storm, Winter Storm Watches and Winter Weather Advisories have already been issued for parts of Texas, Arkansas, and Missouri. Additional winter weather alerts are expected to be issued Monday. Travel will likely be impacted, including parts of I-40, I-35, I-20, I-44, and I-49.

This system will also have a warm, spring-like side. On the warmer side of the storm, severe weather is possible on Tuesday from coastal and southeast Texas, central and southern Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and the Florida Panhandle. Damaging winds and isolated tornadoes are possible in these areas.

A limiting factor is a relatively stable air mass over this region currently, but it will destabilize quickly throughout the day Tuesday into Tuesday night supporting the severe weather, including tornadoes. The directional and speed wind shear appears to support an enhanced tornado risk Tuesday evening and night across the northcentral Gulf States.

There's a Level 1/5 and Level 2/5 severe risk Tuesday for these areas. It's possible this gets upgraded to Level 3 on Monday or Tuesday.

The storm will weaken and move toward the Ohio Valley on Wednesday. This will lessen the severe risk on Wednesday but there's still a low-end severe risk for parts of Alabama and Georgia Wednesday.

Keep checking back for updates!