Several states across the U.S. are under alert as the new storm system approaches. Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Missouri have severe weather alerts in effect through Friday, January 10. Meanwhile, Tennessee, northern Alabama, and parts of Indiana and Kentucky will remain under warnings through Saturday.

Nearly two-dozen states were under winter weather warnings from the National Weather Service as of early Monday.

Nearly the entire state of Arkansas is under a winter storm warning until Friday night. Little Rock and Hot Springs are expecting around 6 inches of snow, with meteorologists urging people to delay any travel until conditions improve.

The pattern had been predicted to form for several months, and weak La Niña conditions were finally officially met this week.

Parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas began to see snowfall on Thursday as Southern states stretching to the Carolinas brace for the storm to reach them on Friday.

West Virginia: In western Grant and western Pendleton counties, 6 to 10 inches of snow is possible. In western Greenbrier County, 2 to 7 inches is predicted. Northern portions of the state could get 4 to 12 inches of snow, while the central and southeast sectors of the state could see 5 to 10 inches.

A “significant Arctic outbreak” of cold air will cover large swaths of the U.S. starting this weekend, with frigid conditions anticipated to last into mid-January.

The developing storm system is forecast to bring heavy snow, crippling ice and severe weather across the country through the next three days.

The new year is ushering in a major winter storm across a wide swath of the United States, blasting large regions of the country with heavy snow and dangerous ice. 60 million people are under weather

Out-of-control wildfires are ripping across parts of Los Angeles, leading to at least five deaths, burning down hundreds of buildings, and prompting more than 130,000 people to flee their homes in America's second-largest city.

Firefighters battled early Thursday to control a series of major fires in the Los Angeles area that have killed five people, ravaged communities from the Pacific Coast to Pasadena and sent thousands of people frantically fleeing their homes.