A powerful winter storm that unleashed heavy snowfall and coated roads with ice across much of Texas and Oklahoma has pushed into the South, leading governors to declare states of emergency and prompting widespread school closures.

Several inches of snow, as well as a mix of freezing rain and sleet, are possible in major Southeast cities such as Atlanta, Georgia, as a winter storm barrels across the region through Saturday.

A winter storm that is producing snowy and icy weather across the southern Plains on Thursday will take aim at the Southeast, mid-Atlantic and Northeast by Friday.

Snow, sleet and freezing rain are expected as the storm sweeps across Texas Thursday into the Southeast on Friday.