Millions of people are expected to endure the impacts of an ice storm set to march across the U.S. later this week.
Winter Storm Fern will potentially bring “historic“ impacts across dozens of cities this weekend, with “catastrophic“ amounts of ice posing the biggest threat, one meteorologist said. Uncertainty still remains about the storm's track and level of severity, but meteorologists have started warning people about expected impacts from the storm, which will bring snow and ice from the Southern Plains through the Mid-Atlantic region beginning on Thursday night.
The National Weather Service and other meteorologists have begun sharing maps, including the cities likely to get hit hardest. “HISTORIC ICE STORM COMING - A destructive and potentially catastrophic ice storm is forecast to impact the south this weekend,“ WSVN meteorologist Dylan Federico posted to X on Tuesday afternoon. “Widespread ice will cripple travel, cause major power outages, and down trees. This is a rare high-impact event — potentially the worst in decades since the Great Ice Storm of February 1994. Computer models are calling for widespread ice accumulations of 1-2+” — for context — a half an inch is considered catastrophic.“ Federico went on to stress that people living in Dallas, Texas; Shreveport, Louisiana; Atlanta, Georgia; and Charlotte, North Carolina, should “prepare like a hurricane is coming.“ Traffic moves through the mountains surrounded by ice-dappled trees after a night of freezing rain, on February 6, 2025, in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. “Buy non-perishable food, water, gas, and charge devices. Protect pipes, plants, pets, and people,“ Federico said in his post. “It also wouldn’t hurt to trim vulnerable tree limbs close to valuable property. I would have warm clothes in case the power goes out. You can forget about any travel north this weekend. An ice storm of this magnitude will cripple the I-20 corridor along with any flights into this area for days. Ice impacts could even be possible as far south as I-10 in Texas and western Louisiana — but the swath of greatest impacts will likely stay north. Either way, this is trending towards becoming a historic storm, and those in the path should heed warnings from local meteorologists and emergency officials. Stay tuned.“ Other cities are also expected to get hit hard, including Tulsa and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Little Rock, Arkansas; Hot Springs, Arkansas; and Fort Worth, Texas, along with surrounding areas. NWS meteorologists in the Southern Plains have issued a winter storm watch, and meteorologists further east, such as those in the Gulf Coast states of Alabama and Mississippi as well as up into the Mid-Atlantic region, have warned of the potential impacts. “This storm has a dangerous sweet spot where crippling ice, heavy snow, and prolonged power outages all overlap, especially from the southern Plains into parts of the Southeast,“ Weather Channel on-camera meteorologist Jim Cantore said in an email sent to Newsweek. “Some areas could see ice accretion approaching or exceeding an inch, and that is enough to take down trees, power lines, and entire transportation networks. The real concern is that this doesn’t end when the precipitation stops - an Arctic air mass follows, locking everything in place for days. That combination turns what might look like a short-term storm into a multi-day emergency.“ Animated weather footage from windy.com anticipates that parts of Arkansas could see over a foot of snow in the next five days, with up to 10 inches expected in Tennessee. Up to 7 inches of snow could wallop northern Texas. Other areas expected to get hit include nearly all of Tennessee, including Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville and more large cities; much of North Carolina, including Raleigh, Asheville, and Greensboro; Huntsville, Alabama; Bowling Green, Kentucky; Richmond, Virginia; and countless others. Accompanying the impactful winter weather will be freezing temperatures expected to bring more problems. “Extreme cold this weekend will put pipes at significant risk for damage, which will be worsened by any potential power outages. Central TX stays below freezing ~2.5 days, while North TX stays below freezing for 3.5-4 days. Prepare your home BEFORE Friday!“ NWS Fort Worth posted on X. The NWS has posted regular map updates on its social media pages to show the evolving storm and where impacts have the highest chances of hitting hardest. However, meteorologists stressed that the storm's track could still change in the coming days.
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