America is on the cusp of its first major winter storm of the new year. Dubbed Winter Storm Fern, the storm is expected to begin today and last until at least Monday.
As Fast Company previously reported, the nor’easter is expected to affect as many as 230 million Americans as it moves from the Southwest to the Mid-Atlantic states, then continues eastward toward New England.
The storm’s progression over 72 hours is expected to dump snow and ice on significant portions of the country, with major cities including St. Louis, Chicago, Memphis, Nashville, Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C expected to receive significant accumulation.
The severity of Winter Storm Fern has led many states to already declare emergencies before the bad weather has even hit. Residents across the country have been stocking up on food for days, as well as buying winter storm supplies like shovels and rock salt.
Airlines are also warning travelers to expect delays and cancellations. Given the potential impact, many U.S. carriers have already said they will waive change fees or fare differences if travelers want to change their travel plans ahead of time.
2 maps show Winter Storm Fern’s expected path
The first major winter storm of 2026 won’t hit most of America all at once. It is expected to begin in the Southwest on Friday and slowly move northeastward across the country over the following days. Exactly when it hits you depends on where you are along the storm’s projected path.
If you want to see when experts think the storm is most likely to hit your area, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has two excellent sets of maps that show the storm’s current projected path.
The first map is the agency’s National Forecast Chart. This map forecasts the country’s weather for the next three days. While the map will change as new data is aggregated, at the time of this writing, the map shows that today freezing rain and mixed precipitation will begin in the Southwest, in states including Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. Snowfall is expected from Wyoming to western Missouri.
But Saturday and Sunday are the days that most of America will be hit hard, according to the maps. On Saturday, snow, wintry mix, or freezing rain is expected to occur in states ranging from Arizona to Philadelphia. On Sunday, the storm is expected to cover the remainder of the northeastern United States.
But just how impactful the winter storm weather will be varies by location. And its predicted impact is shown in another NOAA map, called the Winter Weather Forecasts, which displays the Probabilistic Winter Storm Severity Index (wssl-p). This index “displays a range of winter weather impact probabilities over a geographic area,” NOAA states. The impacts are shown via a color-coded system with darker colors signifying a greater change of impact.
Currently, the Winter Weather Forecasts map shows that Saturday and Sunday will bring a 90% chance or greater of significant impact from the winter storm. On Saturday, the chance of impact is greatest in states including Texas, Oklahoma, and Missouri. On Sunday, the chance of impact is greatest in states including North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, New York, and more.
