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 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 southcentral 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.
Winter alerts for millions as freezing rain threatens power outages and travel danger
