82 million people under winter weather alerts from Colorado to Vermont

About 82 million Americans woke up Tuesday to winter weather alerts and the threat of rain, snow, sleet and ice wreaking havoc from Colorado to Vermont in coming days.

This latest winter storm system will be a slow-moving blast impacting a massive swath of America, east from the Rockies to the I-95 corridor and New England, from now through Friday.

Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday warned Texans about potential power losses and impassable roads this week due to winter weather. The Lone Star State suffered catastrophic power loses a year ago due to a winter storm.

“There will be thousands upon thousands of miles of roads that will be extraordinarily dangerous,” Abbott said. “Over the coming few days, the roadways could become very treacherous.”

Winter storms are on tap for cities across the nation.

Snow should begin to fall in the Denver area on Tuesday afternoon and dump up to 7 inches by Wednesday evening.
Kansas City is gearing up for snowfall that should begin Tuesday evening and go for nearly two full days and dump between 5 inches to 9 inches on the western edge of Missouri.
It’s expected to snow throughout Wednesday night and most of Thursday in St. Louis, possible dumping between 9 inches and a foot.
Tuesday rain is expected to turn to snow in Detroit on Wednesday morning, continuing through Thursday with 9 to 15 inches possibly falling on southeast Michigan.
Rain is set to fall on Chicago late Tuesday afternoon, before the region is pummeled with snow at sunrise Wednesday and continuing all day. About 6 inches to 8 inches of snow is expected to hit Chicago, with heavier totals forecast for suburbs south of the Windy City.
Vermont residents are going to enjoy a relatively mild Tuesday, with the high temperature reaching the low 30s by the afternoon. But that respite will soon be overtaken by a major storm on Thursday that could dump up to a foot of snow by Friday.