Freezing temps, heavy snow expected for millions of people in central and eastern US this weekend

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Travel disruptions, power outages and frigid temperatures are expected to affect 150 million Americans on Friday and through the weekend as a massive storm clobbers the US with heavy snow and freezing rain from the Central Plains to the East Coast, the National Weather Service said.

The storm, which could impact nearly half the country's population, will bring up to 20 inches (50.8 cm) of snow in the Appalachians and West Virginia mountains, while most people living in the eastern US could face dangerous slick or frozen roads and potential power outages from ice-laden trees and branches falling and snapping power lines, officials said.

"With the extreme cold in the North and the storm, half of all Americans are under some form of weather advisories," said Brian Hurley, a meteorologist with the NWS's Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.

Agricultural meteorologists said the heavy snow and ice should benefit dormant winter wheat crops in Oklahoma, where 23% of the state is in severe drought, according to a weekly US Drought Monitor report released on Thursday.

But plunging temperatures in the storm's wake could put wheat fields without protective snow cover "at risk of cold-weather injury," the US Department of Agriculture said in a daily weather note on Wednesday.

Livestock will face stressful conditions due to ice and snow in the Southern Plains and extreme cold in the north, the USDA said on Thursday.

New York City, Boston, Baltimore and Washington, DC, could receive 4 to 10 inches (10 to 25 cm) of heavy, wet snow starting on Saturday, Hurley said, with temperatures in the low 20s Fahrenheit (minus 5.5 C) in DC, with Boston seeing a low of 7 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 14 C).

LOCAL PREPARATIONS UNDER WAY

Throughout the storm, New York state was expected to be under a "Code Blue," which requires social service providers to extend shelter hours and ensure the homeless have access to them.

In Boston, Anh-Phi Tran said he was prepared to cater a weekend event with his locally beloved "Zinneken's" Belgian waffle food truck despite the forecast.

"It's hard, but I have a space heater and of course the waffle ovens to keep me warm," said Tran, who has worked in the food truck for about 11 years.

Chicago will be under a deep freeze, with a low of 2 degrees below zero F on Friday and Saturday and dangerous wind chills of 30 below zero (minus 34 C).

Space heaters have been flying off the shelves all week at J.C. Licht Ace Hardware River North in Chicago, according to manager James Martin.

Chicagoans know how to deal with extreme cold, said Martin, a Chicago native. "We move fast and we dress in layers and layers and more layers. Then we ask, 'Why do we still live here?'"

In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott declared a state of emergency, activating extra personnel and equipment to help control traffic, monitor power outages, rescue people trapped by the storm, and more. Abbott urged Texans to "remain weather-aware, check DriveTexas.org before traveling, and heed the guidance of state and local officials."

The storm is expected to clear out of most areas by late Sunday or early on Monday. The extreme cold from an Arctic blast of air from Canada will bring a high temperature of only 5 degrees below zero on Saturday in Fargo, North Dakota.

Farther south, the main storm hazard will be ice, weather forecasters said. From Central Virginia to Northern Texas, the Southeastern states could receive accumulations of up to a half-inch of ice.