Photos: Massive winter storm sweeps across the U.S.

NPR Staff | January 24, 2026

Shannon White, who has been homeless for 30 years, uses a blanket to stay warm while walking to a day shelter during Winter Storm Fern in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma January 24, 2026.

An extreme winter storm is underway impacting two-thirds of the U.S.

Starting Friday and expected to last through Monday, freezing rain, ice, and dangerously low temperatures will stretch from New Mexico to the Northeast.

Thousands of flights have been cancelled and power outages are of catastrophic concern especially for the southern states.

We take a look.

A de-icing crew works during the winter storm on a Southwest Airlines flight at Nashville International Airport in Nashville, Tennessee. (Andrew Nelles | USA Today Network via REUTERS)

A person walks in the snow in Little Rock, Arkansas. A massive winter storm is bringing frigid temperatures, ice, and snow to nearly 200 million Americans. (Will Newton | Getty Images)

Ice crystals form inside a kitchen window in Lowville, New York. (Cara Anna | AP)

Shoppers walk past nearly empty shelves at a store ahead of an anticipated winter storm in New York. (Michael Nagle | Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Cars drive in the snow on Interstate 630 in Little Rock, Arkansas. (Will Newton | Getty Images)

Yana Beeker, front, Roddy Peterson, behind, sled down a hill at the state Capitol during a winter storm in Nashville, Tenn. (George Walker IV | AP)

Snow falls during a winter storm in Kansas City, Missouri. (Clayton Steward | Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Workers are bundled up at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo ahead of an anticipated winter storm in Fort Worth, Texas. (Mark Felix | Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Volunteers prepare cots at an inclement weather shelter ahead of a winter storm at Fair Parks Automobile Building in Dallas, Texas on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (Mark Felix | Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Ice forms along the shore of Lake Michigan on Jan. 23, 2026, in Chicago. (Kiichiro Sato | AP)

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Northeast readies for a major winter storm, with blizzard warnings in effect

New Jersey through Massachusetts could see 2 feet of snow. New York City's mayor said the city had not "seen a storm like this in a decade."

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