Winter Storm Fern threatened more than 140 million people across the US Saturday, caused a record number of canceled flights, and left thousands without power as the “biggest ice storm in a decade” began its monstrous march across the nation.
More than 8,600 flights scheduled to take to the skies on Sunday were grounded — making for the worst day for US flight cancellations in the past year, according to FlightAware data.
Winter Storm Fern is expected to wallop parts of 40 states. REUTERS
Drivers navigate through snow on I-44 as Winter Storm Fern arrives in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on Jan. 23, 2026. REUTERSSaturday came in a close second place, with more than 4,000 flights nixed across the nation.
The previous record was set on Nov. 9, 2025 when the government shutdown forced nearly 2,000 grounded flights.
Texas lead the country with the most flight cancellations, with 1,000 being nixed out of the Fort-Dallas airport alone.
By midday Saturday, a quarter of an inch of ice covered parts of Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana. Before she’s done, Fern is expected to pummel some 40 % of the country, from the Southern Plains to New England, with”catestrophic” snow and ice, forecasters said.
A bulletin warning motorists to avoid travel in preparation for major Winter Storm Fern as seen on an electronic sign on the Grand Central Parkway in Queens, New York, on Jan. 23. Christopher SadowskiOfficials in Texas warned residents to stock up on enough food, medicine and other supplies to “hunker down, maybe until as late as Wednesday, and hold out while the weather goes through,” Kevin Oden, Dallas’s director of emergency management and crisis response, warned on CNN.
“We definitely don’t believe that being on the roadways, particularly over these next 48 to 72 hours, is any place for folks to be,” Oden said.
Oklahoma City is expected to get 13 inches of snow, falling just short of the record reached in 2009. REUTERSDallas zeroed in on its infrastructure to ensure power stayed on, water continued to flow and homeless shelters were open and ready to accept those in need.
Sections of the Lone Star State were peppered with freezing rainfall overnight as Fern slowly made its way east.
A maintenance worker clears snow from a bus stop as Winter Storm Fern arrives in Oklahoma City on Jan. 23. REUTERSIn northern Georgia, officials advised drivers to stay off the roads for at least two days, with Will Lanxton, the senior state meteorologist, calling Fern “perhaps the biggest ice storm we have expected in more than a decade.”
Conditions were forecast to be so bad in some areas, particularly those pounded by ice, that experts say damage could rival a hurricane.
Snow falls over downtown as Winter Storm Fern arrives in Oklahoma City on Jan. 23. REUTERSMore than 119,000 outages were reported across the country Saturday morning, including about 51,000 in Texas, 20,000 in Louisiana and nearly 11,000 in New Mexico, according to poweroutage.us.
President Trump directed the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to stand ready amid the storm. Nearly 30 search and rescue teams are on standby, while more than 7 million meals, 600,000 blankets and 300 generators placed throughout the area expected to be impacted by the storm.
Nine states have requested emergency declarations, which would unlock those FEMA resources. Trump on Friday approved declarations for South Carolina and Virginia, while requests from Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, North Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia were still pending Satuday.
“If you get a half of an inch of ice — or heaven forbid an inch of ice — that could be catastrophic,” said Keith Avery, CEO of the Newberry Electric Cooperative in South Carolina, noting that ice could weigh down trees and power lines, triggering widespread outages.
John Christopher Moon walks home through snow as Winter Storm Fern arrives in Oklahoma City, on Jan. 23, 2026. REUTERSLight snow began overnight Friday, with six inches measured in portions of Kansas and Arkansas.
Kentucky recieved about three inches in some areas, but forecasters warned that residents should brace for a 15-inch dumping along the I-64 corridor.
The Midwest saw wind chills as low as 40 degrees below zero — which means frostbite can set in within just 10 minutes.
Ikechi High, who is homeless, walks to a night shelter during Winter Storm Fern in Oklahoma City on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. REUTERS“I’ve been here a while, and my brain stopped working,” said Colin Cross of Bismarck, North Dakota, where he was working outside despite a wind chill of minus 41.
One terrifying video captured by CNN showed a semi truck sliding off the roads as icy conditions swept through Oklahoma City.
A plow truck clears snow on I-40 during Winter Storm Fern in Oklahoma City on Jan. 24. REUTERSAbout 3 inches were dumped on the Oklahoma capital, but forecasters predicted that it could get as much as 13 — nearing the 13.5-inch record set on Christmas Eve 2009.
About 3 inches of sleet pounded Memphis, Tennessee on Saturday, bringing visibility down to a mile or less in some spots.
After sweeping through the South, the storm was expected to move into the Northeast overnight Saturday, dumping about a foot of snow from Washington through New York and Boston, according to the National Weather Service.
States of emergency have been issued in at least 21 states, including Delaware and New York, as well as Washington, DC.
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