Winter Weather Hammers South Again, Sets Sights on Northeast

Updated on Feb. 11, 8:27 p.m. EST.

A winter storm is barreling from the South to the Northeast this week and is expected to impact millions in cities from Dallas to Boston, snarling roads and cancelling flights across a wide swath of the country. President Obama declared a state of emergency in Georgia Tuesday and more than 3,300 flights have been cancelled through Thursday in anticipation of harsh conditions. At least three storm-related deaths have been reported in Texas already.

States have taken taking extra measures to avoid further fatalities. Louisiana authorities closed several roads across Louisiana Tuesday because of dangerously icy conditions. In Georgia, Gov. Nathan Deal has asked truckers to avoid Atlanta until the storm passes on Wednesday, as the state tries to get ahead of the weather and avoid a fiasco like last month, when snow-induced traffic in the Atlanta area was so bad that drivers were stranded on the road overnight and some resorted to sleeping in Home Depots and grocery stores.

(MORE: Atlanta Mayor Tells TIME ‘We’ve Doubled Our Capabilities’ Ahead of Storm)

Southern cities began experiencing ice and sleet on Monday night and will continue to get hammered until Wednesday, when the storm will move north, AccuWeather reports. As of Tuesday, as much as four inches of snow fell in parts of Georgia and the Carolinas, but accumulation could reach six to eight inches by the time the storm leaves the region on Thursday.

“The exact track of the storm after it finishes its run through the South will determine whether or not all snow falls on the I-95 corridor from Washington, D.C., to New York City and Boston,” said Accuweather chief meteorologist Elliott Abrams. Either way, Abrams said, snow will accumulate and cause travel delays.

The harsh weather is expected to arrive in the Northeast Wednesday night and Thursday. Some four to six inches of snow could accumulate in Washington D.C., before the storm heads further north on Thursday afternoon.

This story was updated to include the most recent information on flight cancellations, storm-related fatalities, snowfall and road closures.

[AccuWeather, USA Today, KSLA News, Business Insider, FOX Carolina]