For the latest winter storm updates on Saturday, Jan. 24, follow this link.
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.
The storm was moving in Friday night, with freezing rain falling in Lubbock, Texas, the National Weather Service reported.
“This is expected to be an unusually large and severe winter storm,” the 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 started in Texas and Oklahoma with conditions forecast to worsen by Friday evening. The system is expected to spread from New Mexico to Virginia on Saturday before pushing into the Northeast on Sunday.
A combination of significant snow, ice accumulation and frigid conditions could cause power outages and icy roads to “linger longer than usual after a typical winter storm,” according to the weather service. The system is forecast to bring cold temperatures not seen since 2021, according to AccuWeather.
More than 230 million people are at risk of impacts from the storm or the bitter cold, the weather service said. Disruptive snowfall is expected from the Southern Rocky Mountains to the Northeast and two corridors from the South to the southern Mid-Atlantic will be hit with heavy ice.
Keep up with live updates from the USA TODAY Network.
Sleet and freezing rain will be making news during this storm, forecasters warned Friday.
The layer where sleet can refreeze as it falls to the surface is so deep in some areas that the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center said some locations “will experience exceptional sleet accumulations.”
Major sleet accumulations are likely from southern Oklahoma and northern Texas into central Arkansas and the Mid-South, with more than a few inches possible. The center said there’s “high confidence in an extreme event, leading to long-lasting impacts both to travel and infrastructure” because of the bitter cold that will linger after the storm.
In southern Arkansas, northern Louisiana and parts of northern Mississippi, the probability is high for more than a half-inch of freezing rain over 72 hours, the Weather Prediction Center warned in a Jan. 23 forecast.
That ice accumulation “could be crippling” and exceed more than 3/4 of an inch of ice, “which would almost certainly lead to widespread long-lasting damage to infrastructure, including power outages and tree damage,” according to an afternoon forecast from the prediction center.
States from Michigan to Vermont are facing salt shortages ahead of the upcoming storm, according to reports by local and national outlets.
Shortages in Vermont result from the frequency of storms this season, according to reporting by Vermont Public. The lack of salt has forced some towns to scale back ice removal.
State officials in Michigan also attributed shortages to the severe winter season, CBS News reported. An official from Monroe County, located between Detroit and Ohio, told the news station that local crews used more salt in December than in the past four Decembers combined.
Officials in Cleveland are telling residents that they may not have enough salt for residential streets. Plows will still be assigned to clear neighborhoods, the city said.
Around 2,800 flights within the U.S. or headed into the country on Saturday were already scrapped by Friday evening, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware.
Airlines often start preemptively canceling flights ahead of bad weather to ensure airplanes and crews are positioned to get things moving as soon as possible after the storm clears. The goal is to keep airports clear, get snow removed and line up pilots, flight attendants and aircraft for a smoother recovery, Delta’s chief of operations John Laughter has previously told USA TODAY.
As snow and ice move in, cancellations are likely to rise — and some will probably linger even after the skies clear, as airlines work to untangle aircraft and crew schedules. Travelers are advised to plan ahead and take advantage of the airline waivers available.
— Zach Wichter
Shoppers have been panic-buying this week in anticipation of forecasts of extreme cold and a major winter storm. News reports and social media posts have been showing empty grocery shelves across the country.
USA TODAY talked to grocery and food experts to find out how prepared stores are for this influx of demand, how retailers handle getting more product to restock shelves and how long shoppers may need to wait.
“With a (storm) system this large, once road conditions start to deteriorate, it becomes much harder for stores to stay ahead. Even well‑prepared retailers can only restock as long as trucks are able to run,” said David Ortega, a food economist and professor at Michigan State University. “If deliveries are disrupted across multiple states, some shelves could remain empty until conditions improve.”
— Betty Lin-Fisher
Forecasters are projecting over 6 inches of snow to fall on areas from New Mexico through the Texas Panhandle and Mississippi Valley while freezing rain and sleet are expected to pound the Southern Plains, the Mid-South, Tennessee Valley and the southern Mid-Atlantic.
For southern states less equipped for the cold, the forecast sparks fears of a repeat of the 2021 Texas freeze or the bitterly cold winter storm that battered New Orleans in January 2025.
Meteorologists have, luckily, said they don’t expect this weekend’s storm to be as devastating as others in recent Southern history. But as thousands of people have taken to prepping for the worst-case scenario, buying out stores and fortifying their homes, here’s a look back at how the U.S. South has endured major winter storms of the past.
Reading more here about past disasters, from the New Year’s Snowstorm of 1964 which dropped more than 17 inches of snow on Huntsville, Alabama to the Christmas Coastal Snowstorm of 1989 that saw all-time low temperatures hit coastal North Carolina.
— Mary Walrath-Holdridge
Which areas face the greatest risk of snow and ice? What places are expecting subzero temperatures? How many inches of snow can you expect or what’s the probability of freezing rain in your area?
Read here to see the latest maps on what to expect in terms of snowfall, wind chill and falling temperatures.
Power outages are an increasing concern across the regions set to be hit with the “catastrophic” ice storms that can down trees and power lines.
Electric companies have pre-positioned equipment, resources and more than 50,000 mutual assistance workers from at least 36 states and the District of Columbia, the Edison Electric Institute said Friday morning. Those workers will be ready to begin damage assessment and response efforts as soon as it is safe, the Institute said.
In Texas, the state hopes to avoid a replay of the 2021 disaster that occurred when a winter storm blanketed the state in snow, ice and bitter cold. A grid outage left up to 4 million without power.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) issued a weather watch earlier this week because of the risky combination of freezing temperatures, precipitation and high energy demand.
ERCOT, which manages the electrical grid for most of the state, asked Texans to conserve power and asked government agencies to reduce energy use at their facilities. The council’s President and CEO Pablo Vegas met with state officials on Thursday to discuss preparations for the powerful storm expected to deliver ice and snow across a wide portion of the state.
ICF, an energy power markets analyst, shared in a post on LinkedIn on Friday morning that the extreme cold conditions could put the state’s power grid to the test. The key will be storage and demand-side response availability during critical hours, the analysis stated. “Other variables such as outages, forecasted demand, and wind output” could also play important roles.
Demand is forecast to be highest during the early evening hours on Jan. 26 to Jan. 28, according to ICF.
Cold air has blasted into the central United States, sending wind chills plunging to as low as minus 58 degrees in Brooks, Minnesota, and Langdon, North Dakota, on Friday morning.
A combination of cold temperatures and windy conditions were conspiring to produce widespread wind chill readings in the negative 50s across parts of Minnesota and North Dakota, the weather service reported. Wind chills in the minus 15 to minus 21 range occurred across Kansas and west into Colorado. In the Aberdeen, South Dakota, region, wind chill values of more than 45 degrees below zero, were reported, including a minus 48 in Summit, South Dakota. Wind chills Minnesota and North Dakota also were reported at minus 40, including in Fargo and Grand Forks.
Even as far south as Lubbock, Texas, wind chills and temperatures plummeted on Friday morning.
The weather service reports wind chills also will plunge into the sub zero range farther east by Monday morning, including in Kentucky, where wind chills could be minus 15 to minus 20 on Tuesday.
Locals in the greater Chicago area may hear a sudden “boom” over the weekend – the result of what meteorologists call a frost quake, a weather phenomenon that takes place when temperatures plummet and groundwater freezes quickly.
According to AccuWeather, frost quakes, also sometimes called icequakes, are seismic events caused by a sudden cracking action in frozen soil or rock saturated with water or ice.
“Since water expands when it freezes, it can basically push apart dirt and rocks. If this expansion happens all at once, say a rock under pressure gives way and breaks, it can lead to the sound and earthquake like sensation,” AccuWeather senior meteorologist Adam Douty wrote in an AccuWeather report.
Frost quakes are often mistaken for earthquakes, since initial indicators may appear similar, but meteorologists said they have nothing to do with tectonic plates.
The phenomenon takes place frequently in Alaska and the northeastern United States, AccuWeather reported, as well as Canada and Iceland.
–Natalie Neysa Alund
It might seem counterintuitive that sleet can fall when temperatures near the surface are 20 degrees, but the weather service explains it is possible. When there’s a warm layer above the surface that’s just above freezing, it can melt the snow, even though temperatures at the ground are in the low 20s, the weather service office in Mount Holly, New Jersey explained on Friday morning.
On its fall to the ground, that melted snow falls through a deep layer of well below freezing air temperatures that refreeze it into sleet.
Airlines often start preemptively cancelling flights ahead of bad weather to ensure airplanes and crews are positioned to get things moving as soon as possible after the storm clears. Nearly 1,700 are already scrapped for Saturday, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware, as carriers work to position planes and crews to quickly restart once the weather passes.
The goal is to keep airports clear, get snow removed, and line up pilots, flight attendants, and aircraft for a smoother recovery, Delta’s chief of operations John Laughter has previously told USA TODAY. As snow and ice move in, cancellations are likely to rise — and some will probably linger even after the skies clear, as airlines work to untangle aircraft and crew schedules.
Airlines began offering travel waivers to help customers avoid flight disruptions earlier in the week and have since expanded which flights are covered. Terms vary, but these waivers generally allow travelers to rebook without penalty or get flight credit if they cancel their trips.
-Zach Wichter and Eve Chen
Friday afternoon, much of the eastern half of the country was blanketed by some form of extreme winter weather alert from the weather service.
Roughly 180 million Americans were under some kind of watch, warning or advisory for snow, sleet or freezing rain. When coupled with the states that were under advisories for cold or extreme cold temperatures, more than 220 million people could be affected, said Jacob Asherman, a meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center.
Winter storm warnings extended from New Mexico and Texas, through parts of Tennessee and into the Midwest, West Virginia and surrounding states. Extreme cold warnings were declared in states including the Dakotas, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois.
Forecasters warned that the overwhelming snow and ice in some areas in the path of the storm could make recovery a lengthy process, with plows making slow progress on covered roads. Lingering freezing temperatures will also mean ice and snow won’t melt after the storm passes.
“Everyone in the path of this storm should have emergency supplies, food, bottled water and a plan to charge their cell phone and stay warm with emergency heating options if the power goes out,” AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter said. “Be prepared to be stuck at home for several days.”
The far-reaching winter storm will last from Friday through Monday, according to the weather service. Heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain will be widespread from the Southern Rocky Mountains to New England.
Snowfall totals above 12 inches are likely across the Ohio Valley, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, and will cause travel disruptions, the weather service said.
“Extremely cold air will follow, prolonging dangerous travel and infrastructure impacts into next week,” the weather service warned. “In wake of the storm, communities from the Southern Plains to the Northeast will contend with bitterly cold temperatures and dangerously cold wind chills.”
Forecasters also warned of “catastrophic” ice accumulation with freezing rain and sleet impacting parts of the Southern Plains, Lower Mississippi Valley, Tennessee Valley, the Southeast and southern Virginia. The weather service said significant to local ice accumulations could cause long-duration power outages, extensive tree damage, and extremely dangerous or impassable travel conditions.
More than 19 million people across the south are under an ice storm warning.
At least 16 states have issued emergency declarations ahead of the major storm, including Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
Alabama issued a state of emergency for 19 northern counties in anticipation of the “wintery and icy forecast for the state,” according to a news release.
Maryland declared a “state of preparedness” with the storm expected to bring accumulating snow and potential ice to the state.
“The storm will likely affect roads and transportation centers and could cause significant snow accumulation in some parts of the state,” a news release said. “Marylanders are cautioned to avoid travel if possible, to follow local forecasts, and to stay prepared for winter storm hazards.”
West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey also declared a “state of preparedness,” noting that the weather service has issued a winter storm watch for most of the state from Saturday morning through Monday morning.
While snow is expected all the way from the Southwest to the Northeast, and everywhere in between, AccuWeather meteorologist Bob Larson told USA TODAY there is potential for portions of Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia to receive up to 24 inches of snow or more.
“This will be a large and potentially historic storm, with major impacts over a very large area (more than 2 dozen states),” Larson said in an email, noting that “the greatest risk of a major ice storm will extend from Texas to the Carolinas.”
Local officials in these areas have urged residents to avoid traveling and prepare for possible power outages. The weather service has advised the public to stay home and off the roads during this time due to the hazardous weather conditions.
A winter storm packing strong winds and newly fallen snow caused dozens of “snow rollers” to appear overnight in the Rochester suburb of Chili, according to a local video.
Snow rollers are nature’s own snowballs that grow ever larger as wind, gravity and very specific weather conditions cause these winter equivalents to tumbleweeds to start rolling around. Snow rollers can be the size of a small snowball or grow as large as a car, according to the Idaho Department of Education.
For snow rollers to form, there must be a light dusting of snow on top of an icy layer on the ground, sometimes a hill or other flat expanse with no little vegetation. The snow needs to be wet enough so that it can adhere to itself but not stick to the ground. The wind must be around 30 miles per hour to coax the snow into its cylindrical shape, and the temperature must be three to five degrees above freezing.
That level of cold allows the balls to form in cool shapes, but doesn’t let the snow melt completely. Read more.
-Bill Wolcott, the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
Stay up-to-date on how much snow falls by checking USA TODAY’s snowfall tracker:
Contributing: Reuters