8pm: Hurricane Irene is back over the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean just east of Virginia Beach and about 315 miles south southwest of NYC. Hurricane Warnings remain in effect up and down the east coast with Tropical Storm Warnings in effect for Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

• Big Storm Christmas Week

This Christmas, a strong low pressure system is going to travel from eastern Colorado to Minnesota, bringing the possibility for blizzard conditions in the Northern Plains and severe thunderstorms farther south.

Blizzard watches have already been issued across parts of North and South Dakota.

On the one hand, this storm was somewhat welcomed in the South. As much as 2 inches fell in the Atlanta city limits, producing the city's first measurable snow – and first white Christmas. A significant winter storm encased in ice, buried under snow, and even flooded South Dakotans on December 25th, 2016. Additionally, high winds from the 25-26th exacerbated power outages and led to blizzard conditions across much of the state. A massive storm is on track to pummel the upper portion of the Gulf of Mexico beginning on Wednesday, AccuWeather senior meteorologist Alex Sosnowski reports. The 'drenching rain and thunderstorms' will move North and hit the Southeast, Midwest, and Northeast by the end of the week.

Snow is most likely to fall on the backside of this strong storm system — Nebraska, the Dakotas and Minnesota — while rain is more likely ahead of the system — Kansas, Oklahoma, Iowa and Missouri.

A few storms could even become severe in parts of Oklahoma and Kansas.

This nasty weather will move into parts of the Midwest and the Northeast in the couple of days after Christmas, but the system will significantly weaken in the days following the holiday, too.

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This storm shouldn’t ruin Christmas even though blizzards, severe storms, floods and even hurricanes all have in the past.

It will however, likely make travel a little slower in the middle of the country on Christmas and the days to follow.

Big Storm Christmas Week