AccuWeather Global Weather Center – Forecasters say the snow expected across the Rockies and northern Plains Wednesday into Thursday will be no April Fools' joke from Mother Nature, as treacherous travel will be possible on the roadways.
The wintry scenes will come as a storm system ushers in unseasonably cold air across the northwestern tier of the country.
Temperatures will dip as much as 20-30 degrees Fahrenheit below normal for the first days of April from Billings, Montana, to Cheyenne, Wyoming; Rapid City, South Dakota, and Bismarck, North Dakota.
Winter storm warnings were dispersed across stretches of Wyoming, Montana and the Dakotas Wednesday morning, with winter weather advisories covering a much larger area from Idaho to southwestern Minnesota.
Those social distancing by taking a walk outside in these locales will need to bundle up amid highs in the 20s to near 30 during the middle and later part of the week when highs closer to 50 are more common.
"A potent springtime cold front is expected to bring a shot of snow to parts of the northern Rockies into the northern Plains despite recent warmth," AccuWeather Meteorologist Isaac Longley said.
"With temperatures falling rapidly during the passage of the cold front, snow will begin to accumulate in many places from Wyoming and northern Colorado into North Dakota and the Canadian Prairies," he added.