WASHINGTON, Feb. 28 (UPI) -- A storm bringing a mixture of snow, ice and rain from the Plains to the Northeast will be followed by a new system expected to cause similar conditions into Wednesday.
The system, called "Winter Storm Sparta" by The Weather Channel, was pushed south by high pressure in western Canada before hooking east and bringing snowfall on Friday into the American Southwest, including up to 12 inches in parts of New Mexico.
Portions of Texas and Oklahoma also experienced snowfall and freezing rain as the storm moved northeast, bringing a mixture of snow, ice and rain to the Plains, Midwest and Northeast on Saturday into Sunday night, when a majority of the precipitation is expected to push through the I-95 Northeast corridor.
The National Weather Service predicts heavy rain and mountain snow in parts of California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona on Sunday, as well as thunderstorms in the Lower Mississippi Valley, as another system follows behind.
Dubbed "Winter Storm Thor" by The Weather Channel, the system will also move along the jet stream southwest to northeast, causing a mixture of conditions into Wednesday.
Thor will start in California, bringing rain in the lower elevations and snow in the mountains, before heading east and causing snow, sleet and ice in the Plains, Midwest and Northeast. Snow is expected to turn to rain in New England by Wednesday while thunderstorms continue across much of the South.