More Than 800K People Without Power as Winter Storm Fern Coats Much of the U.S. in Snow and Ice

Hundreds of thousands of people were left without electricity over the weekend as a major winter storm swept across large parts of the United States, canceling flights, disrupting travel plans and coating multiple states in snow and ice while local officials worked to keep residents safe and warm.

Roughly 875,000 customers from Texas to West Virginia were dealing with power outages as Winter Storm Fern continued its march across the country, according to PowerOutage.us.

With snow and ice still impacting the East Coast, precipitation was expected to continue into Monday, Jan. 26, in parts of the Northeast, according to ABC News.

The storm has already dumped more than 4 inches of snow in multiple states — including Arkansas, Kansas, Maryland, Oklahoma and Virginia — while freezing rain has hit areas across the South such as Arkansas, Tennessee and Texas.

NBC News reported that weather alerts stretched across 37 states, affecting roughly 190 million people. Meanwhile, at least 10,000 flights were canceled, according to the Associated Press.

The National Weather Service warned that dangerously low temperatures are expected to linger well beyond the weekend.

“Extremely cold temperatures will expand across the eastern 2/3 of the country this weekend, with very cold weather continuing through much of next week,” the agency posted on X on Saturday, Jan. 24. “Take precautions to prepare yourself and your pets for this life-threatening cold!”

President Donald Trump called the winter weather “historic” and approved emergency disaster declarations for multiple states in the South and along the East Coast.

More complete figures on power and water disruptions — as well as storm-related casualties — were still emerging. In Louisiana, authorities said two men died of hypothermia, though further details were not immediately released.

Ahead of the storm, AccuWeather chief meteorologist Jonathan Porter warned that hundreds of thousands of people could “go without electricity and heat for days” as the system moved through.

AccuWeather meteorologist Emma Belscher also said it may take time for some places to climb above freezing again.

“This will prolong impacts,” Belscher said, “as snow and ice will not be quick to melt and can easily refreeze overnight.”