Powerful winter storm will bring heavy snow and ‘dangerous’ cold, forecasters warn

Wisconsin, Missouri and Illinois will face the winter storm on Thursday

Green Bay, Wis.; Saint Louis; and Chicago could be among the hardest-hit major cities on Thursday from a winter freezing storm that covers large parts of the country, forecasters said.

Memphis, Tennessee and Little Rock, Arkansas could receive rain and snow Thursday afternoon and evening, and Washington, DC, Philadelphia and New York could receive heavy rain, according to NBC News’ climate unit.

Freezing temperatures have already been felt further west. Snow started falling in Minnesota on Wednesday. From 6 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, there were more than 200 vehicle crashes and 189 traffic jams, the State Patrol said. There were no fatalities.

More than 59 million people, including most of Missouri, Iowa and Minnesota east of parts of Ohio, were under a winter storm warning as of Wednesday night, according to the National Weather. Service.

The agency said an additional 7 million people were under blizzard warnings and wind chill warnings covered 57 million people, as far west as Washington state and including Texas and Tennessee. A low of 11 degrees was forecast for Fort Worth, Texas on Thursday. Wind chill will make the situation worse.

Airlines have pledged to waive change fees or take other steps to help passengers in anticipation of travel disruptions.

More than 100 cars are stuck in South Dakota, authorities say

Authorities in South Dakota were helping more than 100 stranded drivers when an arctic front ravaged the area with sub-zero temperatures and blizzard-like conditions, officials said.

The Pennington County Sheriff’s Office said motorists were stuck between Rapid City and Wall. He told drivers to stay in their vehicles and call 911.