WASHINGTON (TNND) — A "high-impact and far-reaching" winter storm is underway in parts of the U.S., with "significant" weather forecasted throughout most of the nation.

The storm is expected to impact nearly 180 million Americas -- or two-thirds of the country -- the National Weather Service (NWS) said. It will expand into the Mid-Atlantic states on Saturday night and then the Northeast late Sunday.

"Heavy snow, sleet, and freezing rain has already overspread much of the south-central U.S. and will continue to expand eastward through Sunday," NWS wrote on X early Saturday morning.

"Be sure to follow advice from local officials and stay safe," NWS added.

By midday Saturday, a quarter of an inch of ice was reported in parts of southeastern Oklahoma, eastern Texas and portions of Louisiana.

“What really makes this storm unique is, just following this storm, it’s just going to get so cold,” Allison Santorelli, who is a meteorologist for NWS, said. "The snow and the ice will be very, very slow to melt and won’t be going away anytime soon, and that’s going to hinder any recovery efforts.”

The map above is an image preview from the 72-hour snowfall forecast tracker for the U.S. on Jan 23, 2026 at 3 p.m. (AP Digital Embed)

NWS in Fort Worth said “dangerously cold temperatures and wind chills are spreading into the area" and will remain in place into Monday.

"Low temperatures will be mostly in the single digits for the next few nights, with wind chills as low as minus 12 degrees Fahrenheit," the agency noted.

After sweeping through the South, the storm was expected to head to the Northeast, dumping about a foot of snow from Washington through New York and Boston, the weather service predicted. Temperatures reached minus 29 Fahrenheit just before dawn in rural Lewis County and other parts of upstate New York after days of heavy snow.

Governors in more than a dozen states sounded the alarm about the turbulent weather ahead, declaring emergencies or urging people to stay home.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told residents that the state Department of Transportation was pretreating the roads.

"Stay home if possible," Abbott wrote on X, as the storm is expected to snarl major roads, as well as knock out power for days.

Thousands of flights across the U.S. set to take off over the weekend were canceled.

President Donald Trump said the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is "fully prepared" to respond to the snowstorm, adding that he was briefed on the storm on Friday.

"I have been briefed on the Record Cold Wave and Historic Winter Storm that will be hitting much of the United States this weekend," he wrote on Truth Social. "The Trump administration is coordinating with State and Local Officials. FEMA is fully prepared to respond. Stay Safe and Stay Warm!"

In a follow up post, Trump said he approved Emergency Declarations for several states, including:

• Tennessee
• Georgia
• North Carolina
• Maryland
• Arkansas
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Mississippi
• Indiana
• West Virginia

"With the help of FEMA and our State partners, we will keep everyone safe, and make sure both States have the support they need," the president wrote. "We will continue to monitor, and stay in touch with all States in the path of this storm.

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EDITOR'S NOTE: The Associated Press contributed to this report.