The Northern Plains and Pacific Northwest are bracing for a brutal stretch of winter weather that will make highway travel exceedingly dangerous, if not impossible, over the next 48 hours. Two powerful storm systems are lining up to hammer the northern tier of the United States through Saturday,

A winter storm watch has now been issued for the Twin Cities and a vast swath of central and southern Minnesota ahead of a massive snow system arriving in the state over the weekend. The watch goes into effect from Saturday evening through Monday morning,