Another active weather week forecast after storms bring more than 100 mph wind gusts and tornadoes to the central US

By Jennifer Gray, CNN Meteorologist

If you are waking up across the south-central US, chances are you didn’t get much sleep. Insanely strong storms ripped through traveling close to 100 mph. At one point, the National Weather Service Office in Norman, Oklahoma called them “historic.”

The storms brought nine tornado reports and 135 wind reports. The highest wind gust reported was 114 mph in the Texas Panhandle town of Memphis Hall.

In Oklahoma, flipped cars and downed trees littered neighborhoods where roofs had been torn from homes. So far, as many as twelve people have been reported injured in Oklahoma from the storms.

The million-dollar question is whether the storms will end up being classified as a derecho. A derecho is a long-lived windstorm, which causes widespread damage similar to tornadoes. There must be damage stretching more than 240 miles and winds exceeding 58 mph, according to the weather service.

They only happen once every 1 to 2 years across this area, according to the weather service, but it is something the Storm Prediction Center forecast. They will study the reports in the next few days and determine if yesterday’s storms were indeed a derecho.

The same storm system is barreling east now, bringing the threat of more severe weather today for the Ohio Valley.

There is a Level 2 of 5 risk of severe weather today for portions of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio, including cities like Indianapolis, Columbus and Cincinnati. Damaging winds and tornadoes are possible through this afternoon.

Where temperatures are much colder, the storm system is bringing ice and snow to the Great Lakes and Northeast. Winter weather alerts span from Minnesota to Maine.

New York City and Boston are under a winter weather advisory as snow and ice are expected to move in later today.

It could easily be New York City’s biggest snow event of a nearly snowless season. The weather service is forecasting 4 to 6 inches of snow and ice in New York City from this evening through midday tomorrow, along with winds gusting to 35 mph.

“Better late than never! New York City has only received 0.4″ of snow so far this winter (since Dec 1), about 2 feet under their average,” CNN Meteorologist Brandon Miller said. “But that looks to change on THE LAST DAY of meteorological winter (which runs Dec 1 – Feb 28).”

Boston could see 5 inches with windy conditions, making for a messy combination for commuters.

“Snowfall rates are greatest between 1 and 7 a.m., travel at this time will be difficult,” said the weather service in Boston. “Expect slow travel on the roads for the Tuesday morning commute.”

Higher elevations in interior New England could see close to a foot of snow with this system. The snow and ice will quickly move out Tuesday and temperatures start to warm by midweek.

Another storm this week could be just as impactful

Just as the storm exits the East Coast, another storm system is approaching the West Coast, right on the heels of last week’s monster storm, which brought feet of snow, torrential rain and some of the first ever blizzard warnings to Southern California.

This week we could see much of the same. Cooler than normal temperatures in California are running 15 to 25 degrees below normal, causing snow to fall at lower elevations. While the mountains will get the highest snow amounts, we could see snow fall at only 1,000 feet.

“Mountains from southern Oregon to central California will see the greatest impacts with heavy snow rates in excess of 2 inches per hour at times and additional snowfall of 4-7 feet along the Sierra Nevada,” the Weather Prediction Center said. “Combined with high winds, blizzard conditions and dangerous to impossible travel are expected.”

Blizzard warnings are already posted for the Sierras, and winter weather alerts stretch from the US/Mexico border to Canada.

Another 2-3 inches of rain could fall across California, with some isolated locations getting even more.

This storm system will traverse the country bringing yet another round of severe storms to the South on Thursday. The South has already been hit by several rounds of severe storms this year, including a very active January with more than 160 tornadoes reported.

There is already a highlighted area the storm center is watching, including places like Shreveport, Little Rock and Jackson.

“A regional outbreak of severe weather appears increasingly likely Thursday afternoon and Thursday night including the potential for large hail, damaging winds, and tornadoes, some of which may be strong,” the storm center explained.

Thursday will be the day of the week to stay on high alert if you are in those areas. We could see storms in these areas fire up as early as Wednesday, but as of now it looks like Thursday is going to be the bigger day for storms.

Record heat continues across the South

Temperatures from the Gulf Coast to the Ohio Valley will feel more like late spring than winter this week. Temperatures will be running 15 to 25 degrees above normal, leading to a second week of record-breaking temperatures.

Highs this week will be well into the 70s and 80s, peaking on Wednesday with highs in the 90s possible across southern Texas and the Florida Peninsula.

This week as many as 75 daily record highs could be broken.

Here are some cities to watch this week for record heat as they are all within a degree or two of their daily record:

• Shreveport, Louisiana: Forecast high on Tuesday is 84. The current record is 85.
• Miami, Florida: Forecast high on Tuesday is 89, which would tie a record.
• Columbus Ohio: Forecast high on Wednesday is 69 which would smash the current record of 65

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CNN Meteorologist Haley Brink contributed to this story.