What to know about snow, freezing rain and freezing cold across much of the United States

(AP) – A major winter storm began Saturday in the central United States and is expected to move eastward over the next few days, producing heavy snow, significant ice and freezing temperatures, according to the National Weather Service.

Here's what you need to know about the storm, which is expected to affect millions of people in the eastern two-thirds of the country:

A major winter storm sets in

A large system made landfall along the West Coast Friday afternoon, bringing rain to the Pacific Northwest and expected snow to the Cascade Mountains, meteorologists said.

The system will be responsible for developing a major winter storm from the Central Plains to the Mid-Atlantic this weekend into early next week.

Snow will fall across the central plains and move east

As of Saturday evening, widespread heavy snowfall was likely in areas between central Kansas and Indiana, especially along and north of Interstate 70, where there was a high chance of at least 8 inches (20 centimeters).

For places in the region that typically see the highest snow totals, this could be the heaviest snowfall in at least a decade, meteorologists said.

The storm will then move through the Ohio Valley, with severe travel disruptions expected, and reach the Mid-Atlantic states Sunday through Monday.

Possible blizzard conditions

Wind gusts above 35 mph and heavy snow could lead to blizzard conditions, particularly in Kansas and neighboring parts of the Central Plains by Sunday morning.

Whiteout conditions can make driving dangerous or impossible and increase the risk of getting stuck.

Freezing rain expected from eastern Kansas to the Ozarks

Icy roads were causing traffic problems Saturday in Kansas, and forecasters warned that sleet and freezing rain could extend to Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and much of Kentucky and West Virginia.

Power outages were likely in areas where ice accumulation was greater than a quarter of an inch (half a centimeter).

This is going to be a disaster, a potential disaster, said private meteorologist Ryan Maue.

Frigid Arctic air will blast into areas as far south as Florida

Starting Monday, residents in the eastern two-thirds of the country will experience dangerous and bone-chilling air and wind chills, forecasters said.

Temperatures could be 12 to 25 degrees Fahrenheit (7 to 14 degrees Celsius) colder than normal as the polar vortex expands from the High Arctic.

That could lead to the coldest January for the United States since 2011, Dan DePodwin, director of forecast operations for AccuWeather, said Friday, noting that there could be up to a week or more of well-tempered temperatures. below the historical average.

The biggest drop below normal would likely be centered over the Ohio Valley, but significant and unusual cold would extend south to the Gulf Coast, said Danny Barandiaran, a meteorologist at the Forecast Center climate from the National Weather Services.

Severe frost was even expected in Florida, he added.

The wind chill is going to be brutal, said Jennifer Francis, a climate scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Institute. It is not because the planet is warming that these cold waves will disappear.

Weather conditions could be triggered by rapid Arctic warming

The brutal weather could be driven in part by rapid warming in the Arctic, a reminder that climate change is making extreme weather worse, said Judah Cohen, director of seasonal forecasting at the private company Atmospheric and Environmental Research.

Ultracold air from the spinning polar vortex usually stays above the North Pole, but sometimes extends as far as the United States, Europe or Asia.

Cohen and his colleagues have published several studies showing increased stretching or wandering of the polar vortex. Cohen and others published a study last month attributing cold outbreaks in part to changes caused by an Arctic that is warming four times faster than the rest of the globe.

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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