Major Ice Storm Threat Looms from Texas to the Carolinas

A massive winter weather system is tracking across the Southern United States, threatening to paralyze a region stretching from Texas to the Carolinas with historic ice accumulations.

The National Weather Service issued a stern warning Thursday, predicting "great swaths" of the South will face life-threatening conditions beginning Friday.

Forecasters are calling the event potentially "catastrophic," with ice totals expected to exceed half an inch in many areas.

Experts warn that this level of icing is enough to collapse power grids and down thousands of trees, particularly in major metropolitan hubs like Dallas, Memphis, and Charlotte.

Senior meteorologist Marcus Vance noted that local infrastructure in these regions is not equipped to handle such extreme frozen precipitation.

The storm is already wreaking havoc on logistics, with major airlines preemptively canceling flights at DFW and Charlotte Douglas International airports.

State officials have declared states of emergency, urging residents to stay off the roads as freezing temperatures are expected to persist well into next week, preventing any significant melting.

As the system shifts eastward through Sunday along the I-20 and I-85 corridors, millions remain under winter weather alerts.

Emergency management agencies are advising residents to complete all travel and supply runs immediately, warning that once the freezing rain begins, travel will be virtually impossible across the impact zone.