Parts of the Plains and Upper Midwest can expect up to two feet of snow this weekend due to a major winter storm that will bring whiteout conditions into early next week, AccuWeather reports.

The state of play: A mixture of ice, sleet, snow and wind gusts will start Friday afternoon across portions of Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska. Snow will begin to taper off across the Plains on Monday, with areas left with double-digit snowfall totals.

Go deeper: New U.S. weather model still won't be more accurate than European models

A typhoon that pummeled the central Philippines on Christmas Day has killed at least 16 people, Filipino authorities said Thursday, per AFP.

The big picture: Typhoon Phanfone packed ripped off roofs, downed power lines and caused internet and cell phone network outages as it made landfall packing winds of 120 miles mph, AFP notes. Some 3,930 travelers were still stranded at ports across the island nation following the storm by 8 a.m. Thursday local time, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reports.

Temperatures could be 15–20 degrees higher than average in parts of the country ahead of the holidays, while two storms may bring as much as half a foot of rain to the Southeast and a mix of snow and rain to the Pacific Northwest, the Washington Post reports.

What to watch: A storm is brewing and is expected to move through the middle of the country late next week, as many people plan post-Christmas travel, the Post writes. It's too early to know for sure, but the storms could be disruptive to those plans, per the Post

Australia smashed its hottest day record just one day after it was set, preliminary findings from the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) released Thursday show.

The big picture: The country has also experienced its worst ever spring for wildfire danger, the BOM said in a climate statement Wednesday.

• The driest spring on record has left more than 95% of Australia experiencing dangerous fire weather that has been above average, and much of the country is in severe drought.
• The historic heat wave comes as firefighters continue to fight wildfires across the country. The Australian state of New South Wales declared a seven-day state of emergency Thursday.

What they're saying: Blair Trewin, a senior climatologist with the BOM, said in a video posted to the agency's website that many areas would shatter hottest December records and perhaps even the hottest temperature for any time of the year, with Saturday forecast to be a particularly searing day.

Read the climate report:

Go deeper: In photos: Wildfires rage across Australia amid historic heat wave

Editor's note: This article has been updated to include the new temperature record details.

A severe storm system spawning tornadoes across the Deep South killed at least three people as it damaged homes, downed trees and caused power outages Monday, AP reports.

The Upper Midwest and Great Lakes region is forecast to be hit with temperatures 30 degrees below average under Arctic high-pressure next week, the Washington Post reports.

The state of play: In addition to the intense cold, rain and snow are likely and could impact travel conditions the Weather Channel notes.

A seemingly unrelenting early winter storm that's been blamed for several deaths and caused travel chaos across the U.S. over the past week is now dumping heavy snow as it pummels the Northeast.

A trans-continental winter storm moving into the Northeast Sunday is tormenting travelers and being blamed for multiple deaths, AP reports.

What's happening: The National Weather Service issued winter storm warnings for upstate New York and New England, where nearly a foot of snow was expected to fall. Ice accumulations were forecast for parts of Pennsylvania and California was also under a storm warning, with the Bay Area bracing for "a foot of total rainfall between Saturday and Wednesday morning," per the Los Angeles Times.

Millions of travelers whose Thanksgiving holiday plans were thrown into disarray by two powerful storm systems now have to deal with another coast-to-coast winter storm system on the way home, per the National Weather Service.

The latest: Motorists face heavy snow "from parts of California to the northern Midwest and drenches other areas with rain," AP reports. Over 1,300 flights were delayed and 300 canceled Saturday, according to FlightAware.

FEMA data and records demonstrate "the degree to which the recovery from Hurricanes Maria and Irma on America’s Caribbean islands has been stalled ... leaving the islands’ critical infrastructure in squalor and limbo," the New York Times reports.

Why it matters: The stalled aid highlights the disconnect between how the federal government can view American citizens in its territories, like Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, that lack congressional representation and Electoral College votes versus those on the mainland.