A cross-country tornado snow blitz threatens 100 million Americans with the ‘most severe’ storm outbreak of the year. ‘Dangerous, damaging and life-threatening’ weather conditions spanning half a million square miles will smash the US into mid-month.

The forecast comes days after an expansive storm similarly trekked across the U.S. last week, unloading snow in the northern Plains and bringing tornadoes and wildfires to the South. At least five storm-related deaths in Nebraska and Mississippi were tied to that storm.

A potent storm system is expected to pour heavy rain on western states later this week before rumbling into the central United States