The severe weather racing across the southern portion of the U.S. will draw to a close Thursday night

A low pressure system in the western United States is generating heavy snowfall in the central and southern Rockies and High Plains today. The snow is winding down in Denver this morning where 5 to 10 inches fell overnight, and some areas west of Denver in the foothills saw 2 feet of new snow. Meanwhile, severe thunderstorms are forecast today in the southeast part of the country, while snow falls in the mountains of New England.

Blizzard conditions may have ended over the Lower-48 early Tuesday, but they are ongoing over portions of southern Alaska. Blowing snow, due to wind speeds of 45-60 mph, is lowering visibility to less than one-quarter of a mile. By the time this storm winds down early Wednesday, most areas will have received 4 to 8 inches of snow with some locally heavier amounts.

The NWS Climate Prediction Center has updated its winter outlooks for the months of December, January and February.

The main low pressure center of the historic storm affecting Alaska is weakening and has moved off the northwest coast of Alaska. Impacts will continue across western and northwestern Alaska on Thursday

A powerful and extremely dangerous storm of near-record magnitude is now impacting western Alaska. Impacts will spread northwest and continue through Thursday in some communities

On Wednesday, November 9, 2011, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, in coordination with the Federal Communications Commission and NOAA’s National Weather Service, will conduct the first national test of the Nationwide Emergency Alert System, or EAS. This nationwide test will kick off at 2:00 p.m.

A potent storm system is impacting eastern Colorado and is expected to move into Kansas and Nebraska through the day on Wednesday, creating travel issues throughout parts of the state of Colorado, as winds of 20 to 30 mph with higher gusts combine with the snow to create significantly reduced visibilities and poor road conditions. Travel will likely become impossible across the Plains Wednesday night, including Interstate 70. Total snowfall for the Denver metro area is expected to be 5 to 10 inches, with 8 to 14 inches in the mountains and foothills along the Front Range.

Heavy snow is possible today across southeast Wyoming and north-central Colorado into the western Nebraska Panhandle as a strong cold front moving through the western U.S. surges southward.

The results of the 2011 NWS Overall Customer Satisfaction Survey are now available. More than 32,000 respondents participated in the survey through a link on NWS Internet pages from May 31 to June 23, 2011.