Residents in 22 states are under winter weather alerts this week with a huge storm expected to bring heavy snow and high winds, the National Weather Service .
The storm is expected to "deliver a large swath of heavy snow from the West Coast to the Northeast through Thursday," the NWS .
The winter storm will begin in California with heavy snow accumulating in high-elevation areas such as the Sierra Nevada mountains 鈥� though there's a chance residents in central California valleys will also receive a light dusting of snow on Tuesday.
The deepening low pressure system will carry , gusty winds as high as 80 mph across the West and the High Plains states on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The axis of heavy snow is expected to expand to Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota.
"As impressive as the snowfall event will be across the West, potentially even more impressive and impactful will be the blizzard that is expected to develop from the High Plains through the Upper Midwest, especially Wednesday and Thursday," the NWS Weather Prediction Center .
Winter weather alerts (Winter Storm Watches/Warnings, Blizzard Warnings, and Winter Weather Advisories) span across 22 states this morning as heavy snow and high winds impact a large portion of the country this week. Visit for local forecasts.
— NWS Weather Prediction Center (@NWSWPC)
Near Minneapolis, the NWS that historic snowfall is possible. office added that the storm "could very well break top five snowfalls in the Twin Cities dating back to 1884."
There's also a chance of heavy rain and flash flooding in parts of Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan, the NWS .
Simultaneously, however, across the Southeast and parts of the Midwest, Americans will experience highs of over 70 degrees.
"These highly anomalous temperatures are forecast to continue later into the week," the NWS said on Tuesday, the mesh of unusual cold and warmth that people will experience.
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