The meteorologists were right. Dozens of states have been battered by a massive winter storm, leaving hundreds of thousands of Americans without power. The event has triggered over 10,000 flight cancellations — the highest single-day total since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The system stretches over 1,500 miles from the Southern Plains to the East Coast. As ice accumulates in parts of the South where it has fallen for the past day, power outages have continued to escalate nationwide. According to recent reports, more than 730,000 customers across eight states are without electricity, with the majority affected in Tennessee, Texas, and Mississippi.

After hitting the southern regions on Saturday night, the storm is expected to move into the Northeast, potentially depositing one to two feet of snow from Washington, D.C., through New York City and Boston. The National Weather Service warns that the storm will bring widespread heavy snow, sleet, and freezing rain across a vast area stretching from the Southern Rockies to New England by Monday.

“Extremely cold air will follow,” the service said on Sunday, “prolonging dangerous travel conditions and infrastructure impacts into next week.” Additionally, severe thunderstorms may generate damaging winds and tornadoes in parts of the eastern Gulf Coast states this weekend.

Airport authorities are preparing for a chaotic travel day on Sunday, with over 1,800 U.S. flights already canceled for Monday.