Major storm with snow, ice and rain to slam south-central U.S. Friday to Saturday

Old Man Winter will deal a swath of heavy snow, ice, rain and thunderstorms that will hit travel hard across the south-central United States from Friday to Saturday with the worst of the storm likely from late Friday to Saturday afternoon.

The storm has the potential to bring enough snow and ice to shut down travel for a time to the southern Plains to the middle part of the Mississippi Valley and a portion of the Tennessee Valley.

"For many areas, this will be a long-duration storm, lasting two days in many cases," according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Brett Anderson.

In some areas, the weight of the wet snow and ice may bring down trees and lead to regional power outages.

Shipping originating from, passing through or ending up in this swath may be adversely affected.

Download the free AccuWeather app to see how the storm is likely to affect your area.

Southern Plains brace for a major snow, ice storm

At this juncture, areas from the northern part of the Texas Panhandle and the Oklahoma Panhandle to the southern tier of Kansas, northern Oklahoma and southern Missouri have the best chance of a heavy snowfall on the order of 3-6 inches.

See more related to this story:

This zone of all or mostly snow may be approximately bounded by Interstate 40 and U.S. Route 54.

Where little or no sleet and freezing rain mix in, there is the potential for 6-12 inches of snow from this single storm. Amarillo, Texas and Ponca City, Oklahoma, may end up in the zone of heaviest snowfall. This heavy snow band will likely stay south of Wichita, Kansas.

Ice or a wintry mix will be a major part of this storm.

In part of the mix zone, the storm may begin as rain, then transition to ice and snow or alternate between all three forms of precipitation as colder air arrives.

Areas from northwestern Texas to central and southern Oklahoma to northern and central Arkansas are likely to fall within the icy, wintry mix portion of the storm. However, parts of northwest Texas and northwestern Oklahoma are likely to transition from ice to heavy snow at the height of the storm.

"While a few inches of snow may not seem like much, the combination of snow, sleet and freezing rain can be extremely difficult to remove and very dangerous

Cities that may be hit hard with a wintry mix include Childress, Texas; Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Oklahoma; Fort Smith, Arkansas; and Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Even where the storm starts as plain rain in some of these locations, it is forecast to change to an icy mix and may end as a period of heavy snow.

Areas from Wichita Falls, Texas, to Little Rock, Arkansas, and Memphis, Tennessee, will be close to where ice and snow can mix in during the latter part of the storm.

Rain may lead to flooding in Deep South

Farther south, rain may be heavy enough to cause urban flooding from Texas to the southern Atlantic Seaboard from Friday to Sunday.

It may be best for timeliness and safety for cross-country shipping and travel interests to seek an alternative route farther north, such as I-70 or I-80, or south such as I-20 or I-10, even though there will be some rain-related delays across the Deep South.

RELATED:
How to drive safely when roads are covered with snow and ice
How to survive a power outage in winter
Shoveling snow increases risk for winter heart attacks, experts say
Experts debunk 4 winter driving myths

Snow, ice to winterize Tennessee and Kentucky and aim farther East

Farther east, the storm will continue to produce a swath of ice and snow on its northern flank.

A substantial amount of freezing rain, sleet and snow is anticipated over portions of Tennessee and Kentucky.

The details on the wintry and flooding aspect of the storm for the southern Appalachians to the southern Atlantic coast are beginning to unfold. This could be a blockbuster storm for the interior Southeast.

However, parts of central and western North Carolina, northwestern South Carolina, northeastern Georgia, southern West Virginia and southern Virginia should be preparing for major winter storm, travel difficulties and disruptions to daily activities from Saturday to Monday. Part of this area may be on the receiving end of 1-3 feet of snow.

The worst of the wintry side of the storm in the Southeast states is likely to focus on parts of the I-81 and I-85 corridors.

"The effects of the multi-faceted storm, in particular, power and travel, may linger for days in some areas after the last flakes and bits of ice occur," Samuhel said. "Many of the areas set to receive snow and ice from this storm are ill-equipped to handle a small amount, let alone the amount anticipated from this storm."