Powerful winds Monday will be an issue for truckers across a broad area of the country.
The high risk of rollovers stretches more than 1,500 miles from the Rockies to the Midwest and more than 900 miles from the northern Plains to the Texas Panhandle. Drivers deadheading (hauling empty trailers) or carrying light loads will have to be especially careful.
A strong low-pressure system and associated frontal boundaries are responsible for the fast-moving air, which will last into Monday night in some areas.
Gusts will range from 40 to 70 mph as far west as the northern Rockies of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, as far east as Peoria, Illinois, and as far south as Lubbock, Texas.
Other major cities and freight hubs in the risk zone include Denver; Boise, Idaho; almost all of Montana and Wyoming; the Dakotas; Minneapolis-St. Paul; Omaha, Nebraska; Des Moines, Iowa; Kansas City, Missouri; Topeka and Wichita, Kansas; and Oklahoma City.
Winds will also be whipping Monday across the Northeast, including the Interstate 95 corridor. Gusts will be as high as 40 to 60 mph from New York to Maine, as well as interior sections of the region.
The National Weather Service has issued either wind advisories, high wind watches or high wind warnings for all the areas previously mentioned.
Related: Sandstorm, winds blamed for container ship fiasco in Suez Canal
More severe thunderstorms and locally flooding rainfall could hit parts of the South Tuesday and Wednesday.
Look for weather updates throughout the week on the FreightWaves website and social media accounts.
Click here for more FreightWaves articles by Nick Austin.
