see latest updates for Saturday 24 January here. Previous forecasts are below.
More than 200 million people in the United States are in the path of a major winter storm that is expected to bring a mix of ice, snow and cold conditions to a 2,000-mile stretch of the country over the weekend. About two-thirds of the US could be affected by what is likely to be the worst winter storm in at least five years.
Freezing rain, snow and rain began Friday in the Southern Plains before Saturday is forecast to move into the Mississippi and Tennessee valleys and then move into the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Sunday into Monday.
The system is expected to be slow, i.e. long duration of snow and ice it will have time to accumulate.
Winter weather warnings continued to be issued from the Southern Plains to the south and northeast into Monday, affecting at least 185 million people. Seventeen states and Washington, DC, are under a state of emergency and 35 states are expected to be affected by the storm. Nine states have activated National Guard troops.
Extremely cold temperatures are also a major concern. Friday morning, thermometers in Minneapolis area it was 21 degrees below zero, with chills even colder. Weekend temperatures are expected to drop to record lows in parts of the Southern Plains and Mid-Atlantic.
Maps show what to expect from the winter storm
A low pressure system is forecast to develop in the Southwest and interact with Gulf moisture and cold Arctic air. The system began dropping precipitation Friday across the Southern Plains.
A map shows where freezing rain, sleet, sleet and snow are forecast to fall during a winter storm beginning Friday, January 23, 2026. / Credit: CBS News
The system is expected to move slowly eastward, bringing snow and accumulating ice. Forecast patterns continue to change as the event approaches, but it is set to affect wide swaths of the U.S. from Arizona to Maine, said National Weather Service meteorologists Rich Otto and Tony Fracasso of the agency’s Weather Prediction Center.
Heavy snow is expected across a wide swath of the country, with a foot or more headed for parts of the Texas Panhandle and Ozarks, Otto and Fracasso told CBS News. The highest snowfall totals — possibly up to 2 feet — could accumulate in the central Appalachians and to the northeastthey said.
Conformable CBS New York meteorologist Scott Padgett, parts of New York could see anywhere from 6 to 12 inches of snow.
A map shows where ice and snow are forecast to fall during a winter storm that begins on January 23, 2026.
Meanwhile, the polar vortex that is usually located over the North Pole is sinking into the US, bringing unseasonably cold temperatures starting Thursday and lasting through the first half of next week. Extreme wind chills of over 50 degrees below zero were reported in parts of Minnesota and North Dakota.
Communities from Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma to Washington, DC and New York City could see records set for the coldest high temperatures. Frostbite can occur in as little as 5 to 10 minutes if exposed to this dangerous cold.
A map shows areas experiencing cold weather alerts during a winter storm that begins Jan. 23 and lasts through the weekend. / Credit: CBS News
The bitter cold means snow and ice will remain on the ground until mid-week after the storm passes.
Ice is expected to accumulate along the southern part of the storm track. Given the slow movement of the storm, the amount of accumulation is expected to be as much as three-quarters of an inch or even an inch of ice in some areas. Impacts of this magnitude can knock down power lines. With the bitter cold, power outages could leave people freezing without heat indoors in some communities.
Parts of northeast Texas, northern Mississippi and southwest Tennessee will likely feel the most substantial effects of the ice, Otto and Fracasso said. They noted that icy conditions are also expected to significantly impact a block from southeast Georgia north to the Carolinas.
A map shows forecast ice totals during a winter storm beginning January 23, 2026. / Credit: CBS News
Possible snowfall totals in excess of 12-18 inches could be seen from the Southern Plains up into the Northeast, but expected totals are still in flux for individual locations as forecast models continue to gather.
As this system moves east, snow amounts will vary by location.
A map shows forecast snow totals during a winter storm that begins Friday, Jan. 23, and moves from the Plains to the East Coast through the weekend. / Credit: CBS News
Winter storm may affect travel plans
Travel will be disrupted by weather conditions on roads and airports. Some airports in the south do not have de-icing equipment for aircraft to take off safely, which can lead to widespread cancellations and delays over the weekend.
Some airports that may experience problems are Dallas Fort Worth International Airport; Oklahoma City Will Rogers International Airport; Clinton National Airport in Little Rock, Arkansas; Memphis International and Nashville International Airports in Tennessee and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
Major US airlines issue travel waiversand many carriers are issuing travel alerts and allowing customers to change plans without penalty starting Thursday.
American Airlines, whose hub is Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, said it would add 17 additional flights to and from DFW on Friday and Sunday to help boost the number of travelers struggling to make their trips. Eight of those were departing DFW on Friday, 17 on Saturday and nine would arrive at DFW on Sunday.
The airline also added 17 more flights Saturday between Charlotte Douglas International Airport and Chicago O’Hare International Airport.
A CBS News analysis found that at least 2,495 Saturday flights have been canceled so far in the US.
In a news release late Thursday, Delta Air Lines said flight cancellations would be “necessary” at “selected airports in North Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee.” It did not detail how many flights would be expected to be affected.
Roads could also become very difficult to navigate, if not impossible, with poor conditions on major interstates such as I-10, I-20, I-30, I-35, I-40, I-44, I-49 and I-55.
Road travel is strongly discouraged over the weekend, but if absolutely necessary, people are advised to drive with caution.
“Hazardous and dangerous driving conditions are likely due to accumulations of ice and snow. In some areas, travel will become nearly impossible during the peak of the storm,” Otto and Fracasso said. “The extreme cold following the storm will prolong potential impacts, with many areas not above freezing for much of next week.”
Officials urge drivers to bring a winter storm kit, including items such as hoisting cables, a flashlight, a shovel, blankets and extra clothing, as well as water, a first aid kit and anything else that would help survive the gridlock.
Preparations underway
About 18,000 utility workers have been pre-positioned in the Carolinas, while at the Tennessee State Emergency Operations Center, officials will monitor road conditions in real time.
Outside of Oklahoma City, the Oklahoma National Guard is on standby to assist stranded drivers and passengers. The city and state have fewer than 100 plows for more than 1,800 miles of roads.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the city had “procured 700 million pounds of salt” ahead of the storm. Salt trucks were already out in force on Friday, littering the streets and highways. More than 2,000 sanitation workers and 700 salt spreaders were deployed in the operation.
“Each piece of equipment is equipped with some type of high-tech GPS that allows us to get real-time data from around the city,” Joshua Goodman, a spokesman for the New York City Department of Sanitation, told CBS News. Goodman said that will help officials know which parts of the city are most affected.
In Texas, heavy ice could weigh down power lines and trigger widespread outages. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said In a news conference Thursday, the Electric Reliability Board of Texas, which operates the state’s power grid, “has never been stronger, never been better prepared and is fully capable of handling this winter storm.”
Texas transportation agencies are working overtime to prepare as officials hope to avoid a repeat of the widespread disruptions caused by a crippling ice storm in 2021, which resulted in the death of over 200 people.
Shops in the south of the country were full of people loading up supplies such as generators, flashlights and batteries. In the Fort Worth area, some shoppers were finding essential items out of stock.
Meanwhile, staff at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago were bracing for an increase in cold trauma, with emergency room doctors on standby.
“We’re going to see a lot of patients for exposure, frostbite, frostbite, maybe some hypothermia,” Dr. Scott Heinrich, a Rush ER physician, told CBS News. “We see our vulnerable populations, those who are housing insecure, maybe our older adults without heat.”
Reasons for forecast uncertainty
After weather forecast models showed considerable variation in their winter storm forecasts earlier in the week, uncertainty is diminishing as the storm’s arrival approaches.
Those variations seen earlier in the week were not unusual, Otto and Fracasso said, adding that there can be significant differences “between forecast models 3-4 days before a storm starts.”
Forecasting winter storms can create an additional layer of uncertainty because freezing temperatures create another variable in the forecast.
“For winter storms, the uncertainty is compounded by uncertainty about the total amount of precipitation in addition to the type of precipitation that may fall,” Otto and Fracasso said. When the precipitation type is snow, very slight atmospheric changes, such as temperature variations of just one or two degrees, can dramatically alter the forecast, they added.
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