[Trending News] Winter alerts for millions as freezing rain threatens power outages and travel danger

Winter weather alerts were in place for some 100 million people across 22 states from Nebraska to Massachusetts on Thursday as a series of winter storms descend on states in the North and the East, bringing snow, sleet and freezing rain.

The cold snap could cause power outages and difficult travel conditions during Thursday’s commute and beyond, forecasters warned.

A storm already affecting much of the Great Lakes, the upper Ohio Valley and the mid-Atlantic will push further into the Northeast, meaning a very icy morning for many, the National Weather Service said in an update early Thursday.

The storm is expected to impact major cities such as Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York and Boston on Thursday with school closures as a precaution in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts.

The mix of freezing rain will end in Washington D.C. by 10 a.m. ET, in New York by noon and the mix of snow and freezing rain will end by 4 p.m. in Boston.

Up to half an inch of ice is expected in eastern West Virginia, northern Virginia and parts of south central Pennsylvania, which could cause scattered power outages and tree damage.

Up to a quarter inch of ice is forecast for northwest of the Interstate 95 corridor, from Washington to Philadelphia. “This amount of ice is capable of making untreated roadways treacherous,” the weather service said. Between 2 and 5 feet of snow could fall across much of New England.

The weather service warned this week that even a small amount of freezing rain — when rain freezes upon hitting the ground, making surfaces slippery — can cause havoc on roads. “It’s true, freezing rain IS the worst. Even just a glaze can make stepping outside, and especially driving, very dangerous,” it said on X.

“The freezing rain makes roads very, very slippery and unfortunately people think that they can still drive on it. It’s not snow, it is ice, and everyone, including us, will slide over ice” Pennsylvania Department of Transportation spokesperson Fritzi Schreffler said on “TODAY” on Thursday morning.

This storm system will also bring a bit of snow. A dusting of one inch of snow is possible from Philadelphia to New York City, with two to four inches forecast for Hartford, Connecticut, and Boston.

Overnight, commercial vehicles were banned across multiple interstates in Pennsylvania as a precaution.

The weather has also impacted air travel. More than 60 flights were cancelled and more than 600 delayed since 6 a.m. Thursday, according to FlightAware.

The severe weather is expected to end Thursday evening and will be replaced by high winds as a new low pressure weather system makes its way from southeast Canada. There is a blizzard warning in place for the Keweenaw Peninsular in Michigan.

Another system will create Great Lakes snow and Ohio River Valley ice, NBC’s Al Roker warned. It’ll continue east creating icy conditions in the mid-Atlantic Saturday into Sunday and light snow that could create rough travel conditions along the I-95 corridor for Super Bowl Sunday.

The West Coast will receive some strong winter weather too: Heavy rain is expected across California, with several feet of snow possible in the Sierra Nevada and more than a foot in higher elevation areas of northern California and southern Oregon.

This snow will move toward the Great Basin and the northern Rockies on Friday and will reach the morthern Plains with a 70%-90% chance of at least 4 inches of snow.

Meanwhile, as the North and East freeze, states in the South are experiencing record high temperatures of this time of the year, with some areas from the Southwest to the southern Plains reaching the 70s and even 80s.