Winter Storm 'Q' PHOTOS: Central Plains, Midwest Blanketed In Snow

LOOK: Winter Storm 'Q' Photos
A student makes her way across the campus of Friends University in Wichita, Kan. as heavy snow falls on Wednesday morning, Feb. 20, 2013. A large winter storm moved in over the early morning hours and is expected to last until Thursday evening. (AP Photo/The Wichita Eagle, Travis Heying)
A student makes her way across the campus of Friends University in Wichita, Kan. as heavy snow falls on Wednesday morning, Feb. 20, 2013. A large winter storm moved in over the early morning hours and is expected to last until Thursday evening. (AP Photo/The Wichita Eagle, Travis Heying)

A powerful weather system, dubbed winter storm 'Q' by the Weather Channel, left a large part of the country blanketed in white this week, after it dumped snow across the Central United States, from the Rockies to the Midwest.

Forecasts predicted that, by Friday, up to 24 inches of snow would accumulate in parts of Kansas, where the greatest impact from the system was anticipated. On Thursday, blizzard conditions were reported in Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, and Missouri, according to AccuWeather.

Authorities urged people to stay home and avoid unnecessary travel, but many people could not resist snapping photos of winter storm "Q."

SCROLL FOR PHOTOS

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration does not name winter storms, but the Weather Channel began naming them last year in an effort to increase awareness of the hazards they might pose. TWC's choice of colorful names -- think Gandalf, Xerxes, Rocky -- has been criticized as a gimmick by some, but winter storm 'Q' has a somewhat benign origin. Apparently, TWC chose the name in honor of the New York City subway's Q line.

"And now the Q train, that rumbling gale of Broadway, seems to have acquired another power: It can make it snow," quipped Matt Flegenheimer of the New York Times last October, when TWC announced its name choices for upcoming storms.

If you have photos of winter storm "Q" please feel free to share them in the slideshow below. Just be careful out there. Although great user-submitted content is a hallmark of The Huffington Post's engaged readership, at the end of the day its more important to be safe than to snap a cool photo.

LOOK:

Before You Go

Winter Storm 'Q'

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot