This powerful storm is beginning to move out of the Pacific Northwest, where heavy rains have exacerbated last week’s historic flooding in Washington, into the Northern Plains and Northern Rockies Wednesday, bringing vicious wind gusts of 50 to 70 mph.

Powerful wind gusts compounded the existing power outages caused by the ongoing flooding across Washington early Wednesday.

A 71 mph wind gust was clocked at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in the Puget Sound, and a 138 mph gale was recorded on Mount Hood, Oregon.

Early Wednesday, power outages impacted more than 350,000 customers in Washington and another 200,000 in Oregon.

As this storm begins its trek across the country, these powerful wind gusts could have the potential to cause delays at airports as holiday travel begins to increase.

From there, the storm will spread mostly heavy rain, strong winds and some snow as it tracks east across the country through the end of the workweek.

The area of low pressure associated with this storm is expected to deliver wind gusts of 50 to 70 mph across much of Montana, as well as parts of Idaho, Wyoming, and the Dakotas on Wednesday.

Isolated gusts could even approach 80 to 90 mph.

The National Weather Service (NWS) issued High Wind Warnings and Wind Advisories across Montana through Wednesday.

Temperatures will be cold enough for snow across the region, which, combined with strong wind gusts, could lead to periods of whiteout driving conditions.

Meanwhile, the powerful wind gusts prompted the NWS to issue Fire Weather Warnings across parts of Colorado through Wednesday. Denver, Colorado Springs, Boulder and Pueblo are covered under this warning.

Strong winds coming down the Rocky Mountains combined with the relatively dry conditions across the state could quickly spread any fires that spark.

The system is expected to fully exit the Northwest by Wednesday night.

Strong winds coming down the Rocky Mountains combined with the relatively dry conditions across the state could quickly spread any fires that spark.

Moving into Thursday, the main area of low pressure driving the storm is expected to hug the US-Canada border, while a strong and fast-moving cold front surges southward.

Over 50 mph wind gusts and snow will remain the main concern for both drivers and those traveling by plane across the Dakotas, Minnesota and Iowa.

Early morning rain is forecast to turn into snow by Thursday afternoon across the Dakotas, Minnesota and Michigan, and whiteout conditions will again be the main travel issue through Thursday night.

Meanwhile, the cold front will deliver rain on Thursday to areas farther south in the Midwest, as well as the Mississippi River Valley and parts of the South.

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