WASHINGTON (TNND) — A “high-impact and far-reaching” winter storm is underway in parts of the U.S., with “significant” weather forecasted throughout most of the nation.
The storm is expected to impact nearly 180 million Americas, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
“Heavy snow, sleet, and freezing rain has already overspread much of the south-central U.S. and will continue to expand eastward through Sunday,” NWS wrote on X early Saturday morning.
“Be sure to follow advice from local officials and stay safe,” NWS added.
The map above is an image preview from the 72-hour snowfall forecast tracker for the U.S. on Jan 23, 2026 at 3 p.m. (AP Digital Embed)
NWS said conditions “rapidly deteriorated” across Texas overnight, but the most widespread round of wintry weather is set to occur from Saturday evening into Sunday morning.
“Dangerously cold temperatures and wind chills are spreading into the area and will remain in place into Monday,” NWS in Fort Worth said on X. “Low temperatures will be mostly in the single digits for the next few nights, with wind chills as low as minus 12 degrees Fahrenheit.”
Snow and sleet continued to fall in Oklahoma.
After sweeping through the South, the storm was expected to move into the Northeast, dumping about a foot of snow from Washington through New York and Boston, the weather service predicted. Temperatures reached minus 29 Fahrenheit just before dawn in rural Lewis County and other parts of upstate New York after days of heavy snow.
Governors in more than a dozen states sounded the alarm about the turbulent weather ahead, declaring emergencies or urging people to stay home.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told residents that the state Department of Transportation was pretreating the roads.
“Stay home if possible,” Abbott wrote on X, as the storm is expected to snarl major roads, as well as knock out power for days.
More than 9,000 flights across the U.S. set to take off over the weekend have been canceled.
President Donald Trump said the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is “fully prepared” to respond to the snowstorm, adding that he was briefed on the storm on Friday.
“I have been briefed on the Record Cold Wave and Historic Winter Storm that will be hitting much of the United States this weekend,” he wrote on Truth Social. “The Trump administration is coordinating with State and Local Officials. FEMA is fully prepared to respond. Stay Safe and Stay Warm!”
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EDITOR’S NOTE: The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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