A storm system stretching from Texas to Maryland was bringing dreary and sometimes icy conditions on Thursday that were making travel treacherous.
At least 10 people were killed in what authorities said were weather-related accidents.
In Fort Worth, Texas, at least six people were killed during a massive pileup that also sent 65 people to the hospital. Fort Worth Police Chief Neil Noakes said at least 133 cars were involved.
While the incident is under investigation, “ice was a factor,” Noakes said.
Additionally, three people died in accidents on icy roads in Dallas, according to Police Officer Tamika Dameron.
In Kentucky, the driver of tractor-trailer was killed after he was ejected from the cab after hitting a median wall on Interstate 65, according to Hardin County Sheriff John Ward.
As the system moved over a dozen states there were winter storm warnings in Texas and West Virginia, with watches in Oklahoma, Texas and Virginia.
More than 170,000 homes and businesses in the path of the storms were without power Thursday evening, according to PowerOutage.US.
Kentucky Emergency Management Director Michael Dossett said the state was seeing the end to dangerous ice and snowstorms during which as many as 73,000 customers were without power at one time.
About 56,000 customers remain without electricity, and power companies continue to work to restore those outages, Dossett said.
According to Dossett, some areas in northern Kentucky reported that they received 1 inch of snow, as the rest of the state saw additional precipitation in the form of freezing rain and ice.
Additional possible ice accumulations of 0.1 inch are expected very late tonight, Dossett said.
Initial reports from the National Weather Service early Thursday showed Memphis, Tennessee, had roughly 0.5 inches of ice accumulation, and Carbondale, Illinois, reported at least 0.15 inches.
The highest ice totals as of Thursday morning were recorded in central Kentucky, where up to 0.75 inches were measured, according to the NWS Louisville office.
The NWS Paducah, Kentucky, office said downed trees and limbs are scattered across counties in Kentucky, Illinois and Indiana.
Some places saw snow accumulations of more than half a foot. The West Virginia town of Bayard, on the border with Maryland, had 9 inches of snow as of 7 a.m.
For some areas this is just the beginning.
The winter storm watch for much of north central Texas and southern Oklahoma extends from Saturday night through Monday afternoon. The watch area includes the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area and Oklahoma City.
Heavy snow and near blizzard conditions are expected, with accumulations of 3 to 7 inches across north Texas and up to 10 inches in Oklahoma. The snow will be followed by bitter cold temperatures resulting in wind chills possibly as low as 15 below zero by Monday.
“Travel will become nearly impossible and could become life threatening,” the National Weather Service said.
Covid-19 vaccine disruptions
The ice storm disrupted Covid-19 vaccination efforts as well. In Tulsa, Oklahoma, residents scheduled to receive vaccines Wednesday were told of their postponements due to winter weather advisories affecting the area.
Health department locations and their phone bank were closed, according to the Tulsa health department’s website. Those with vaccine appointments will be notified of rescheduled vaccination times.
The Shelby County Health Department, which covers Memphis and parts of southwest Tennessee, announced its vaccine sites would be closed Thursday due to the storm. Individuals scheduled for vaccination will have their times moved to February 18.
Denton County, on the north end of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, canceled its Thursday appointments at vaccine clinics due to the icy conditions, with recipients of the vaccine to be instead inoculated Friday at Texas Motor Speedway.
“We do not want to bring our residents out on icy roads or have our crews and volunteers working in below-freezing weather,” Judge Andy Eads said.
CNN’s Gene Norman, Hollie Silverman, Rebekah Riess and Jennifer Hauser contributed to this report.