More Than 100 Million People Under Winter Weather Alerts in Anticipation of Snow and Ice

Over 100 million people are under winter weather alerts as a winter storm threatens to blanket the majority of the country in ice, snow, and low temperatures.

Snow began falling Tuesday night, impacting areas in Colorado all the way to Michigan. Some of the affected areas received more than a foot of snow, with locations near Colorado Springs seeing more than 20 inches.

The South is expected to get mostly ice, as far down as Texas. The storm will hit the state nearly a year after 246 people died when a winter storm caused widespread power outages. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott assured the state’s residents they are much better equipped to handle the wintry weather this time around. 

“Locations impacted by snow and/or ice are expected to have temperatures remain below freezing and well below average for at least a couple of days after the wintry precip(citation) ends,” said the Weather Prediction Center.

The airline industry is already being impacted by more than 4,000 canceled flights scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday. It’s estimated that Thursday will end up being one of the 10 worst days for air travel this year. 

CNN reports that several governors have already declared states of emergency or taken other steps to prepare for the storm. 

Some schools began to announce closures in anticipation of the storm.