par Rich McKay
A violent winter storm threatens millions of Americans in the Great Plains and on the East Coast of the United States, the National Weather Service (NWS), the American meteorological institute, announced on Saturday.
Blizzards, heavy snow and freezing rain are expected in these areas through Monday, the NWS said.
The governors of Kentucky and Virginia declared states of emergency before the storm hit.
“The storm is still forming,” Rich Bann, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said Saturday evening. “However, it presents many dangers such as heavy snowfall in the Great Plains or icy conditions further south.”
Rich Bann added that more than 60 million people were affected by weather alerts this weekend in the United States.
The storm is expected to move over the Atlantic Ocean Monday evening, Rich Bann said, but a new wave of cold air from the Arctic is expected by the middle of next week.
(Rich McKay in Atlanta; French version Camille Raynaud)
