Biggest winter storm in more than a decade puts much of US on high alert

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Millions of Americans are bracing for a powerful winter storm that could bring blizzard conditions with the heaviest snowfall and coldest temperatures in over a decade. The storm started in the middle of the United States and will move east in the next couple of days, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). 


Over 60 million people are in the path of the massive storm, set to plunge the eastern half of the US into a deep freeze of Arctic air through Monday, with NWS warning of ice, snow and gale-force winds in states from the central plains to the Mid-Atlantic.


Winter storm warnings have been issued from western Kansas to the coastal states of Maryland, Delaware and Virginia, an unusually broad 1,500-mile (2,400-kilometer) swath under immediate threat. "Disruptive winter storm to impact the Central Plains to the Mid-Atlantic through Monday with widespread heavy snow and damaging ice accumulations," the NWS said in its latest report.


The agency warned that areas from northeastern Kansas to north-central Missouri would see "the heaviest snowfall in a decade."

Historically Low Temperatures

According to forecasters, a polar vortex, an area of cold air that circulates around the Arctic, is the reason behind the extreme weather conditions. 


"For some, this could be the heaviest snowfall in over a decade," the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.


"This could lead to the coldest January for the US since 2011," AccuWeather forecaster Dan DePodwin said, adding that "temperatures that are well below historical average" could linger for a week.


With the jet stream diving southward, temperatures are expected to plunge, in some places to below zero degrees Fahrenheit (-18 Celsius), while strong wind gusts will compound the dangers. 


The mercury could sink tens of degrees below seasonal norms down to the US Gulf Coast. Before then, severe thunderstorms are expected across the lower Mississippi Valley, the NWS forecast.

Travel Disruptions

The first major storm of 2025 was already wreaking havoc on travel, with Kansas City International Airport announcing the closure of its flight operations Saturday "due to rapid ice accumulation." Flight operations resumed later after airfield runways and taxiways were treated, Kansas City mayor Quinton Lucas said in a social media post.


Parts of the eastern states of New York and Pennsylvania are facing "heavy lake-effect snow" coming off the Great Lakes that could dump as much as two feet (61 centimetres) there, according to the NWS.


Forecast company AccuWeather said Saturday that the lake-effect snow total in the region, already blanketed in snow this week, could top four feet.


A blizzard will rage across the Central Plains by early Sunday, and "whiteout conditions will make travel extremely hazardous, with impassable roads and a high risk of motorists becoming stranded," the NWS said.


The US capital Washington could also be blanketed in five inches or more of snow, with up to 10 inches possible in nearby areas.


Another major concern is freezing rain and sleet expected from Kansas eastward to Kentucky and Virginia, setting the stage for thick ice to coat roads, making travel hazardous, bringing down trees and electricity lines, and potentially leaving millions of customers without power during a cold snap.


The NWS warned that it expected widespread tree damage and "long-lasting power outages" from Kansas to the central Appalachian Mountains.


Conditions could prove especially perilous in the Appalachians, where a deadly hurricane in late September devastated communities and ravaged multiple southeastern states including Kentucky.


Many of those communities are still recovering from the effects of that hurricane. 


The new storm "will likely cause significant disruption and dangerous conditions on our roads and could cause significant power outages just 24 hours or so before it's going to get really cold in Kentucky," Governor Andy Beshear told an emergency meeting.


The governors of Kentucky, Missouri and Virginia have declared a state of emergency in their states, and they took to social media to warn residents to expect hazardous weather this weekend.