Overview
- Moderate to heavy snow is spreading across the Carolinas and southeastern Virginia, with the National Weather Service forecasting 8 to 12 inches in eastern North Carolina and localized higher amounts.
- Damaging winds are set to peak with 40–55 mph gusts inland and up to about 70 mph along the Outer Banks, where 2–4 feet of coastal inundation is possible near high tide and blizzard-like whiteouts may occur.
- North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia are under states of emergency, officials are urging people to stay off roads, and National Guard and shelter operations are in place as winter storm warnings span much of the region.
- An Arctic air surge trailing the storm is pushing extreme cold into the Deep South and Florida, with South Florida potentially experiencing its coldest temperatures since 1989 and single-digit wind chills reaching parts of Georgia.
- Power outages from last week persist for tens of thousands in Mississippi and Tennessee as this system intensifies, and NASA postponed a planned rocket fueling test at Cape Canaveral due to the freezing conditions.