A massive winter storm barreled across the United States on Saturday, knocking out power to more than 100,000 utility customers and grounding over 4,000 flights—just as forecasters warned the worst is yet to come.
Snow, ice, and brutally cold temperatures are expected to sweep across the eastern two-thirds of the country through Sunday and into next week, threatening to paralyze major cities and entire states under dangerous conditions.
Calling the storms “historic,” President Donald Trump on Saturday approved federal emergency disaster declarations in twelve states, including South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, Maryland, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Indiana, and West Virginia.
“We will continue to monitor, and stay in touch with all States in the path of this storm. Stay Safe, and Stay Warm,” the president posted on Truth Social.
The Department of Homeland Security said 17 states plus the District of Columbia have now declared official weather emergencies. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed that tens of thousands in southern states were without electricity and warned more outages are likely.
“We have utility crews that are working to restore that as quick as possible,” Noem said late Saturday.
By 6:30 p.m. ET, more than 130,000 customers had lost power across the U.S., with the heaviest toll in Texas and Louisiana. The outages are expected to grow as ice accumulates and wind speeds pick up.
The National Weather Service warned that the ongoing system, now being dubbed Winter Storm Fern, is unusually vast and long-lasting. In the Southeast, forecasters cited the potential for “crippling to locally catastrophic impacts” due to heavy ice buildup and freezing rain.
Record cold temperatures and deadly wind chills are also expected to reach deep into the Great Plains by Monday.
The storm has wreaked havoc on air travel. By Saturday evening, over 4,000 flights were canceled, with another 9,000 scrapped for Sunday, according to FlightAware. Major airlines are scrambling to respond.
Delta Air Lines said Saturday morning it was making additional cancellations throughout the day in Atlanta and along the East Coast, including Boston and New York City. The airline is moving support staff from cold-weather hubs to help manage de-icing operations at southern airports.
JetBlue announced it had already canceled roughly 1,000 flights through Monday and warned more cuts may be coming depending on updated forecasts.
With rolling blackouts a real threat, electric grid operators began taking preemptive steps to prevent widespread outages. Dominion Energy, which oversees critical infrastructure in Virginia—including the world’s largest cluster of data centers—warned this storm could become one of the worst winter events in the company’s history if current forecasts hold.
Speaking at a Saturday news conference, Secretary Noem urged Americans to take the storm seriously.
“It’s going to be very, very cold,” she said. “So we’d encourage everybody to stock up on fuel, stock up on food, and we will get through this together.”
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