[Stay on top of transportation news: Get TTNews in your inbox.]
Winter Storm to Sweep Across US This Week
Snow, Cold, Ice Are Factors From Texas to East Coast
A massive winter storm will sweep across a huge swath of the U.S. starting Jan. 23, freezing Texas before roaring up the East Coast, where New York City and Boston are seeing a strong chance of heavy snow by Jan. 25.
Air travel is expected to be snarled and the extreme cold brings the threat of power outages, especially in Texas, where the state’s grid will once again be tested. Possible blackouts would lead to dangerous conditions since many residents rely on electricity for heat.
The storm threatens as much as 60 hours of below-freezing temperatures across large parts of Texas, said Brian Hurley, a senior branch forecaster with the U.S. Weather Prediction Center. Cold will arrive Jan. 23 across Texas, including the oil-rich Permian Basin, before rain, snow, and ice spread across the state through the weekend. The conditions bring the threat of disruptions to natural gas production.
Abilene, Texas, is forecast to drop to 12F at night on Jan. 23, and then stay below the freezing mark of 32F through at least Jan. 25, the National Weather Service said. Midland will fall to 13F Jan. 23, with a high of 19F on Jan. 24 and low of 9F later in the day.
“The great state of Texas is going to see it all,” Hurley said. “Snow in the north, rain in the south and everything in between.”
The storm will then bring snow and ice throughout the South and Mid-Atlantic, raising the risk of widespread power outages and tying up air travel across the US. Southern airports typically have less de-icing equipment, which can lead to delays that cascade throughout the system.
Talks of snow may be exciting, but dangerously cold temperatures bring even more risk this weekend. -50F wind chills in the Plains, and sub-freezing temperatures all the way down to the Gulf Coast pose a life threatening risk this weekend, especially where snow/ice cause power… pic.twitter.com/C3HeUFi2f5 — National Weather Service (@NWS) January 21, 2026
Atlanta, a major airline hub, has a 50% chance of getting at least a quarter inch of ice Jan. 24. As the storm moves north Jan. 25, delays and cancellations have a good chance to spread into New York and the Northeast.
“It is going to be a big problem,” Hurley said. “It would be tough if you were leaving on Sunday.”
Meanwhile, the chance New York City and Boston will get snow on Jan. 25 is also rising, he said. Computer forecast models have been bringing the storm farther north with every new run.
“The trend is there for New York City and Boston for this to be a pretty good snow event,” Hurley said.
Currently, a winter-storm watch stretches from New Mexico east through Tennessee and Alabama, according to the National Weather Service. Winter-weather advisories and storm warnings reach from North Dakota through the Great Lakes into western New York.
In New York City, there is a hazardous weather outlook in place that repeats Hurley’s warning that “confidence is increasing in the potential for a significant winter storm to impact the area Sunday into Monday with accumulating snowfall.”
