At least 46 million people were under a winter storm warning as of Thursday as the storm spreads along the Gulf Coast Friday, according to the weather service. The storm should weaken by Saturday, bringing lighter snow between 1 and 3 inches to parts of the Northeast, the Mid-Atlantic and the Ohio Valley before exiting off the Carolinas.

A potent winter storm is hammering the South with snow and ice, causing major travel disruptions and power outages just a day after it walloped the Plains.

A winter storm in the South brought heavy snowfall Friday, causing thousands of flight cancellations and several governors to declare states of emergency. More than 46 million people were under a winter storm warning Friday morning,