A major winter storm is forecast to spread heavy snow, sleet and dangerous ice to tens of millions of Americans across two dozen states starting on Friday and continuing into the weekend.
"This is expected to be an unusually large and severe winter storm," the National Weather Service said. "Dangerously cold air remains in the forecast for more than half of the U.S. population through the weekend and into early next week."
The storm will start in Texas and Oklahoma with conditions worsening by Friday evening, according to forecasters. The system is then expected to spread from New Mexico to Virginia on Saturday before pushing into the Northeast on Sunday.
The weather service noted that the combination of significant snow, ice accumulations and frigid weather could cause power outages and icy roads to "linger longer than usual after a typical winter storm." The system is forecast to bring cold temperatures not seen since 2021, according to AccuWeather.
More than 160 million people are at risk of impacts from the storm, the weather service said. Disruptive snowfall is expected from the Southern Rocky Mountains to the Northeast and areas in the South to the southern Mid-Atlantic will be hit with heavy ice.
