Historic blizzard about to hit Midwest?

Those who have read the "Little House on the Prairie" books remember "The Long Winter," Laura Ingalls' remembrance of the hard winter of 1880-81 when the family lived in Dakota Territory. Blizzards hit the little town over and over with deep snows blocking rail lines and cutting the town people off from food and supplies.

The storms lining up this week for the Midwest bring to mind "The Long Winter" because of the warnings from weather forecasters about the intensity of the storm.

Three storms are coming together to form the perfect storm that will eventually involve 31 states with heavy snow, ice, blizzard conditions, and bitter cold. According to AccuWeather:

People across the southern Plains need to take warning and start making preparations, as their first major, immobilizing winter storm of its kind this season is about to unfold.

Treacherous ice and blizzard conditions with up to a foot or more of snow, the worst of which will hit Tuesday into Wednesday, will end up shutting down a large portion of the region from Oklahoma to Missouri and the Great Lakes.

The storm's reach will actually extend even farther than that, spanning from the Rockies to northern Texas and New England. As Expert Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski pointed out Friday, this "Groundhog Day Storm" will affect more than 100 million people.

It looks like the Shenandoah Valley is on the line and may see some icing. WHSV TV-3 has the latest:

Cloud cover stays with us Monday with a chance of freezing drizzle and flurries throughout the day as highs stay near 32 degrees. Overnight lows fall to the mid to upper 20's with continued chances of freezing drizzle and snow flurries. Part two of our system approaches late Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.

Precipitation will start as a frozen wintry mix and change to rain by late Wednesday morning as highs cross the freezing mark. We partially clear out for the end of the week with another system to keep our eyes on for Saturday.

Mother Nature is reminding us that it's still winter....

UPDATE: David sent over this article about the storm and added, "Must be global warming."