Officials in four states have issued warnings about an ice storm that's expected to cut power and screw up travel for millions of Americans over the next few days.
The warnings -- issued in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Tennessee -- come after an arctic cold front with wind chills of 50 below zero settled over the southern portion of the U.S., according to the National Weather Service.
Meteorologists say the extreme low temperatures, which will allow ice to form on roads, will continue through early Thursday. Travel will become very hazardous to nearly impossible across the hardest-hit locations, forecasters said.
"Furthermore, multiple rounds of wintry precipitation are forecast, with brief lulls followed by bursts of sleet and freezing rain that could drastically deteriorate road conditions," the NWS said. "Sleet accumulations around a half inch or locally higher are also possible from West Texas to Arkansas, which can also lead to treacherous travel or add to the already slippery conditions."
Forecasters are calling for widespread ice accumulations greater than a quarter of an inch from West Texas to western Tennessee, with some areas receiving as much as three quarters of an inch.
"Ice accumulations of a half to three quarters of an inch are forecast over much of West, Central and North Texas. Over a quarter inch of ice is forecast over southern Oklahoma, south-central Arkansas, and east through the greater Memphis metro area," the NWS said. "This amount of ice will likely lead to tree damage and scattered power outages across the hardest-hit regions."
The conditions have triggered a series of Ice Storm Warnings, Winter Storm Warnings, and Winter Weather Advisories to be issued.
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