About 90 million people across the U.S. were under winter weather alerts Tuesday night as a storm threatened to bring rain, snow, sleet and ice from Colorado to Vermont.
The latest winter storm system will be a slow-moving blast affecting a massive swath of the country, east from the Rockies to the Interstate 95 corridor and New England, through Friday.
The governors of Oklahoma and Missouri declared states of emergency ahead of the weather that could bring significant snow and ice, and Illinois’ governor issued a disaster declaration.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday warned residents about potential power losses and impassable roads this week because of winter weather. The state suffered catastrophic power losses a year ago in a devastating winter storm.
"There will be thousands upon thousands of miles of roads that will be extraordinarily dangerous," Abbott said. "Over the coming few days, the roadways could become very treacherous."
In the Dallas area and Central Texas, ice and sleet posed the threat of slick roads and localized power outages, according to the National Weather Service. The Houston area was also bracing for icing, but forecasters don't expect a repeat of last year.
Almost 300 flights out of or into St. Louis for Wednesday have been canceled, according to flight tracking website FlightAware. Chicago’s O’Hare had more than 270.
Winter storms are on tap across the country:
- Boulder, Colorado, could see 13 inches of snow through Wednesday, and Denver could get 9 inches, forecasters said.
- Kansas City, Missouri, was gearing up for snow that could last for nearly two full days, dumping 5 to 9 inches on the western edge of Missouri.
- It's expected to snow throughout Wednesday night and most of Thursday in St. Louis, possibly dumping 9 inches to a foot.
- Rain is expected to turn to snow in Detroit on Wednesday morning, continuing through Thursday, with 9 to 15 inches possible in southeast Michigan.
- Chicago is expected to be hit with two rounds of winter weather — the first through Wednesday afternoon with around 5 to 8 inches; and then another 1 to 2 inches, according to the weather service. Heavier totals were forecast for suburbs south of the city.
- Vermont residents could see a major storm Thursday, which could dump up to a foot of snow by Friday.
New England, which just got over a massive storm over the weekend, is bracing again for more potential snow later this week.
