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Atlanta: Snow fell over parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas in a frosty prelude to a monster winter storm expected to converge with bitter Arctic cold and engulf much of the United States over the weekend.<\/p>\n
Forecasts called for heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain, accompanied by dangerously frigid temperatures, to sweep the eastern two-thirds of the nation, threatening to upend travel and spawn widespread power outages.<\/p>\n
At least 14 states and the District of Columbia declared weather emergencies as of Friday morning, and major US airlines warned passengers to stay alert for abrupt flight changes and cancellations.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a mean storm,\u201d said Jacob Asherman, a meteorologist at the US Weather Prediction Centre in Maryland, calling it the biggest so far this season in terms of intensity and scope.<\/p>\n
Government warnings and advisories for winter storm conditions, ice storms and extreme cold were posted from the southern Rockies east to the mid-Atlantic Coast and New England, encompassing more than 200 million Americans.<\/p>\n
Snowfall totals were likely to exceed 30 centimetres in the hardest-hit areas of the Rockies, the Plains, the mid-Atlantic and the Northeast, according to the National Weather Service.<\/p>\n
![\"Strong](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/2f9ed1746069c51cfd7e95adcde49269fa71e420.jpeg\")
Strong winds kick up snow in Lowville, New York, on FridayAP<\/p>\n
Along the southern fringe of the storm\u2019s snow belt, sleet and freezing rain were expected to glaze the southern Plains, the lower Mississippi Valley, Tennessee Valley and the Southeast with \u201ccatastrophic\u201d ice accumulations, forecasters said.<\/p>\n
The worst was predicted for parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee, where ice up to an inch (2.5 centimetres) thick was likely to coat tree limbs, power lines and roadways, Asherman said.<\/p>\n
Snow began to fall on Friday over the southern-central Plains and was expected to expand eastward across a broad front, fed by two streams of dense moisture \u2013 one blowing in from the Pacific and one welling up from the Gulf of Mexico.<\/p>\n
At the same time, a zone of near-record high pressure was migrating out of the Rockies, pulling an Arctic air mass into the US combined with gusty winds, Asherman said.<\/p>\n
![\"Attendees](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/65263e56fa63a11a59ef455c24f8815b110dee2e.jpeg\")
Attendees walk to the parking lot at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo ahead of an anticipated winter storm in Fort Worth, Texas on Friday.Bloomberg<\/p>\n
By Friday, life-threatening wind-chill readings had plunged to below minus 45 degrees in the Dakotas and Minnesota, he said, warning that exposure to such cold without proper clothing \u201ccan lead to hypothermia very, very quickly\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven in areas where you expect cold weather in January, this is a really dangerous Arctic blast,\u201d Asherman said.<\/p>\n
Sub-zero conditions were expected to reach as far south as the southern Plains, lower-Mississippi Valley, Ohio Valley and mid-Atlantic into early next week, shattering some record-low temperatures in those regions, forecasters said.<\/p>\n
Officials warned that the bone-chilling cold and ice were likely to cause major travel and power disruptions in some areas unaccustomed to heavy winter weather.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/2d3ad6540e0398c9a0bdf2ae34f5a5a49691c5c6.jpeg\")
A person walks by a vehicle that was covered in by snow in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Friday.AP<\/p>\n
\u201cDallas could see a half-inch (1.3 centimetres) of ice,\u201d said Brandon Buckingham, a meteorologist with private forecasting company AccuWeather. \u201cThis is going to become treacherous very quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Residents should prepare for \u201cpower outages lasting at least several days\u201d in areas where ice accumulates, even though the storm was expected to dissipate by early Monday, Buckingham said.<\/p>\n
In Oklahoma City, which could see up to 30 centimetres of snow and a glaze of ice before the weekend was over, Morgan Mayo, a manager at the Not Your Average Joe cafe, said customers were packing it in on Friday morning to escape the frigid outdoors, where the low hit minus 22 degrees on Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to do our darndest to stay open,\u201d even on Saturday, when the high was expected to be just minus 12 degrees, Mayo said. \u201cWe have several employees who live in walking distance and are willing to brave the storm.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Tim](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/755b4f8bd469b79d421f6c95cc65bda97006eed9.jpeg\")
Tim O\u2019Connell, a grader operator in Brattleboro, Vermont, gets his vehicle ready ahead of the storm on Friday.AP<\/p>\n
The forecast in Texas was reminiscent of a 2021 ice storm that cut power to nearly 40 per cent of the state\u2019s energy grid and left more than 2.7 million people without electricity for days. That storm was blamed for more than 200 deaths, most due to exposure to the cold.<\/p>\n
The state\u2019s largest electrical grid operator, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), said it is ready for this weekend\u2019s storm and expects \u201csufficient generation to meet demand this winter\u201d.<\/p>\n
In the nation\u2019s capital, with up to 20 centimetres of snow forecast, Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser asked the National Guard to provide high-clearance vehicles to ensure first responders could effectively move through the District.<\/p>\n
The storm represents the first major test for New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who took office just weeks ago. He told local news station NY1 on Friday that the city\u2019s sanitation workforce would transform into \u201cthe nation\u2019s largest snow-fighting operation\u201d in advance of the heavy snowfall expected on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Reuters<\/p>\n
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