A long-duration ice storm impacting portions of the Southern Plains and mid-South is expected to last until Wednesday, bringing the potential for tree damage, power outages and dangerous road conditions to several states.
The big picture: As of Monday night, about 3.3 million Americans are under an ice storm warning, with 14.5 million under a winter storm warning,
according to the National Weather Service. Many more are under other types of winter weather alerts, such as wind chill advisories.
The National Weather Service on Monday morning predicted much of the area could see ice accumulations of one-quarter to one-half inch between late Monday and Wednesday afternoon.
By Monday afternoon, a few school districts had announced they would be closed or delayed Tuesday.
The City of Memphis said Monday it may begin applying brine to pretreat city streets, but if there is heavy rain, they won’t use brine because it would be ineffective. City crews will treat bridges and overpasses first, followed by major streets with hills.