Over 8,000 flights canceled as major winter storm bears down across much of the US

More than 8,000 flights across the U.S. set to take off over the weekend have been canceled as a major storm expected to wreak havoc across much of the country bears down, threatening to knock out power for days and snarl major roadways.

Some 200 million people in the United States were preparing for a massive winter storm that is expected to affect two-thirds of the country. https://t.co/4PhDEb0AZB pic.twitter.com/8CifXjgblm

— DW News (@dwnews) January 24, 2026

Roughly 140 million people were under a winter storm warning from New Mexico to New England. The National Weather Service forecast warns of widespread heavy snow and a band of catastrophic ice stretching from east Texas to North Carolina.

Forecasters say damage, especially in areas pounded by ice, could rival that of a hurricane.

By Friday night, the edge of the storm was sending freezing rain and sleet into parts of Texas while snow and sleet were falling in Oklahoma. After sweeping through the South, the storm was expected to move into the Northeast, dumping about a foot (30 centimeters) of snow from Washington through New York and Boston, the weather service predicted.

Governors in more than a dozen states sounded the alarm about the turbulent weather ahead, declaring emergencies or urging people to stay home.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told residents on the social media platform X that the state Department of Transportation was pretreating the roads and told residents, “Stay home if possible.”

More than 3,400 flights were delayed or canceled Saturday, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware. More than 5,000 were called off for Sunday.

Angela Exstrom was supposed to fly back to Omaha, Nebraska, from a trip in Mexico, but she learned her Saturday flight out of Houston had been canceled. So instead, she is going back via Los Angeles.

“If you live in the Midwest and travel in the winter, stuff can happen,” she said.

Frigid temperatures and ice

Utility companies braced for power outages because ice-coated trees and power lines can keep falling long after a storm has passed.

The Midwest saw wind chills as low as minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 40 Celsius), meaning that frostbite could set in within 10 minutes.

In Bismarck, North Dakota, where the wind chill was minus 41 (minus 41 Celsius), Colin Cross was bundled up Friday in long johns, two long-sleeve shirts, a jacket, hat, hood, gloves and boots as he cleaned out an empty unit for the apartment complex where he works.

“I’ve been here awhile and my brain stopped working,” Cross said.

The storm has been a popular topic of discussion for days at Saint Paul Mini Market in Baltimore.

“Every single person that walks in talks about the storm,” said owner Ayaz Ahmed.

“Somehow, this time around, they did a good job letting people know that here’s a storm coming their way, and everybody knows about the storm, but how to deal with that is another thing,” Ahmed said.