Southeastern U.S. stares down icy, snowy weekend

A thick band of heavy snow, freezing rain and cold temperatures was spreading across southeastern states early Saturday, promising a messy weekend of slick roads, power outages and prime sledding for kids out of school.

The heaviest snow, possibly up to a foot, was predicted in Arkansas near the Missouri state line, northern Tennessee near the Kentucky and Virginia borders and western North Carolina, according to the National Weather Service.

Mark Rose, a forecaster with the weather service’s Nashville office, called it “a major winter storm for this part of the country – heck, for any part of it.”

The Weather Service warned that icy roads and downed power lines were likely after snow changed to freezing rain Friday night over western Tennessee and northeastern Arkansas.

With temperatures expected to remain below freezing through the weekend, a fresh coating of ice was possible over the area, much of it along the Interstate 40 corridor.
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