Blizzard forecast for Midwest could break April snow records

April 9 (UPI) -- It appears winter isn't finished quite yet. A major blizzard is expected to dump heavy snow on parts of the Midwest in the coming days, possibly setting new records for the month of April.

Forecasters say the low-pressure system could break the all-time pressure record for April in parts of the Great Plains.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration meteorologist David Roth said the storm could be a "bomb cyclone," in which the pressure drops 24 millibars in 24 hours. A bomb cyclone hit Colorado and Nebraska last month as part of a storm system that killed several people. Forecasters have issued another bomb cyclone warning as part of this new storm system.

Forecast models show the storm system increasing in strength and it could produce a blizzard of record proportions between Wednesday and Friday, meteorologists say.

Winter storm warnings and watches have been posted from the central Rocky Mountains to the Upper Mississippi Valley and northern Great Lakes. In Denver, the temperature could plummet from 80 degrees Tuesday into the 20s Wednesday.

Experts say the storm will strengthen Wednesday over the central Plains as rain turns to snow. By Thursday, the system will move to the Upper Midwest and Ohio Valley. Some isolated areas of South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota and Wisconsin could see as many as 20 inches. Most areas will receive about a foot.

Parts of the Midwest, including bomb cyclone-hit Nebraska, might also see a new round of flash flooding.

Although it's springtime, winter weather isn't entirely unusual in April. Last year about this time, a major winter system dumped 33 inches of snow in northeastern Wisconsin.