Lifelong Flint resident Cory Pacheco, 58, uses a snowblower to clear out his driveway on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022, in downtown Flint, Mich. This was his first pass, he said, as he intends to continue to remove snow throughout the heavy snow storm. “I love it. It’s truly so beautiful,” he said, taking a break to admire the fresh blanket atop the trees and along Commonwealth Avenue. “We’ve needed this.” (Jake May/MLive.com/The Flint Journal via AP) 
John Tapko clears snow at his house Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022, in Overland Park, Kan. A major winter storm with millions of Americans in its path brought a mix of rain, freezing rain and snow to the middle section of the United States as airlines canceled hundreds of flights, governors urged residents to stay off roads and schools closed campuses. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) 
A car remains buried under several inches of snow at the Margaret B. Upton Arboretum in St. Joseph, Mich., Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022, after a winter storm moved through Southwest Michigan. (Don Campbell/The Herald-Palladium via AP) 
A man walks his dog through steady snow showers along West Valley View Drive Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022, in St. Joseph, Mich., after a winter storm closed many schools and businesses throughout Southwest Michigan. (Don Campbell/The Herald-Palladium via AP) 
A sign tells that the school has been canceled due to impending winter weather in Dallas, Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022. North Texas school districts called off classes for the next two days in anticipation of winter weather that sweeps in this evening. (AP Photo/LM Otero) 
A pickup truck drives south on a snow-covered Interstate 25 Wednesday morning, Feb. 2, 2022, near County Line Road in Monument, Colo., as a winter storm hits the Pikes Peak Region dropping as much as two feet of snow. (Christian Murdock/The Gazette via AP) 
Men play football on a soccer field in Chicago’s Lincoln Park Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022. A major winter storm with millions of Americans in its path brought a mix of rain, freezing rain and snow to the middle section of the United States as airlines canceled hundreds of flights, governors urged residents to stay off roads and schools closed campuses. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast) 
A sign advises patrons of COVID-19 restriction while long icicles grow from an awning outside a restaurant as a winter storm sweeps over the intermountain West Wednesday Feb. 2, 2022, in Denver. Forecasters predict that the storm will move out Wednesday on to the eastern plains and on to the Midwest, which is bracing for heavy snowfall and icy conditions in the days ahead. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) 
Bundled up against the cold, a pedestrian cradles a package while crossing in the intersection of Logan Street and Alameda as a winter storm sweeps over the intermountain West Wednesday Feb. 2, 2022, in Denver. Forecasters predict that the storm will move out Wednesday on to the eastern plains and on to the Midwest, which is bracing for heavy snowfall and icy conditions in the days ahead. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) 
A City of Columbia snowplow clears Ninth Street on Wednesday Feb. 2, 2022, in Columbia, Mo., after a winter storm dumped about seven inches of snow according to the National Weather Service in St. Louis. Another four to seven inches of snow is expected tonight and Thursday. (Don Shrubshell/Columbia Daily Tribune via AP) 
Steve Davis of Atkins Inc. removes snow from the sidewalk in front of Goldie’s Bagel & Deli at 114 S 9th St Suite 102 in Columbia, Mo., Wednesday Feb. 2, 2022, after a winter storm dumped about seven inches of snow on Mid-Missouri according to the National Weather Service in St. Louis. Another four to seven inches of snow is expected tonight and Thursday. (Don Shrubshell/Columbia Daily Tribune via AP) 
Traffic along eastbound Interstate 70 near Stadium Blvd. is halted on Wednesday Feb. 2, 2022, in Columbia, Mo., following several accidents after a winter storm dumped about several inches of snow. (Don Shrubshell/Columbia Daily Tribune via AP) 
ATR Towing and Recovery workers remove a pickup truck that slid into the median on Interstate 70 east of the Lake of the Woods exit on Wednesday Feb. 2 2022, after a winter storm dumped about seven inches of snow according to the National Weather Service in St. Louis, Mo. Another four to seven inches of snow is expected tonight and Thursday. (Don Shrubshell/Columbia Daily Tribune via AP) 
Jennifer Apperson and her daughter Clara, 9, slide down Stephens Lake Park hill on Wednesday Feb. 2, 2022, in Columbia, Mo., after a winter storm dumped about seven inches of snow according to the National Weather Service in St. Louis. Apperson who is from northern Minnesota said of the snow “It’s a little piece of home right now. We love it.” She said her kids are excited about the snow day so they can build snow forts and snowmen. (Don Shrubshell/Columbia Daily Tribune via AP) 
Elaina Lowery, 8, and Logan Watson II, 5, of Columbia, Mo., watch other sledders as they walk back up Stephens Lake Park hill on Wednesday Feb. 2, 2022, after a winter storm dumped about seven inches of snow according to the National Weather Service in St. Louis. (Don Shrubshell/Columbia Daily Tribune via AP) 
Salvation Army of Odessa’s Major Luis Melendez inspects beds in the men’s dormitory of the Mabee Red Shield Lodge as the shelter prepares to open as an emergency inclement temporary shelter in advance of the incoming winter storm Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022 in Odessa, Texas. The shelter will begin intaking guests following the Salvation Army’s evening meal service at 5 p.m. and will remain open as an emergency cold weather shelter until temperatures have returned to above freezing. (Eli Hartman/Odessa American via AP) 
Local celebrity chef Alejandro Barrientos cooks a batch of hamburger soup at his restaurant Curb Side Bistro as he prepares to help serve meals for those in need staying at the Salvation Army of Odessa’s emergency shelter Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022 in Odessa, Texas. Barrientos has planned to serve soups and bread Wednesday evening and throughout Thursday for those sheltering from the cold weather passing through the Permian Basin. The Salvation Army’s Mabee Red Shield Lodge will be opening as an emergency shelter starting following their meal service and will remain open until the weather returns to above freezing. (Eli Hartman/Odessa American via AP) 
A plow clears away snow on the airport apron at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport in Romulus, Mich., on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022. (Daniel Mears/Detroit News via AP) 
A vehicle’s air bags are deployed after a collision on a snowy W. Eisenhower Parkway in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022. (Daniel Mears/Detroit News via AP) 
A motorist traveling westbound on Dorsett Rd. encounters a deer crossing it on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022, in Maryland Heights, Mo., after an overnight wintry mix of snowfall and ice hampered the St. Louis area. (Christian Gooden/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP) 
Snow plow operators with the Missouri Department of Transportation stop to clear the windshield of a truck on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022, on Scheutz Road in St. Louis County, Mo., after an overnight wintry mix of snowfall and ice hampered the St. Louis area. (Christian Gooden/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP) 
Rain freezes on the branches of a tree in Abilene, Texas, as temperatures drop Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022. Up to five inches of snow has been predicted for the area overnight. (Ronald W. Erdrich/The Abilene Reporter-News via AP)
CHICAGO | A major winter storm with millions of Americans in its path spread rain, freezing rain and heavy snow further across the country on Thursday, disrupting travel as roads in many states were left icy by the wintry mix and airlines canceled thousands of flights due to the weather.
A long stretch of states from New Mexico to Maine remained under winter storm warnings and watches and the path of the storm stretched further from the central U.S. into more of the South and Northeast. Heavy snow was expected from the southern Rockies to northern New England, while forecasters said heavy ice buildup was likely from Texas to Pennsylvania.
“We have a lot of real estate covered by winter weather impacts this morning,” Andrew Orrison, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland, said early Thursday. “We do have an expansive area of heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain occurring.”
Parts of Ohio, New York and northern New England were expected to see heavy snowfall as the storm moves to the east with 12 to 18 inches (30 to 45 centimeters) of snow possible in some places through Friday, Orrison said.
Along the warmer side of the storm, strong thunderstorms capable of damaging wind gusts and tornadoes were possible Thursday in parts of Mississippi and Alabama, the Storm Prediction Center said.
More than 20 inches (51 centimeters) of snow was reported in the southern Rockies, while more than a foot of snow fell in areas of Illinois, Indiana and Michigan.
Sleet and freezing rain were occurring early Thursday in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and in parts of Oklahoma and Arkansas. Tens of thousands of homes and businesses were without power, mostly in Texas and Arkansas, according to the website poweroutage.us, which tracks utility reports.
“Unfortunately we are looking at enough ice accumulations that we will be looking at significant travel impacts,” Orrison said.
In Chicago, Elisha Waldman and his sons welcomed the opportunity to hit a sledding hill Wednesday, even as snow continued to fall.
“Cold and wet and wonderful, and getting cold and wet is part of the fun with the guys, and we get to go inside and have hot cocoa and warm up,” Waldman said.
In Detroit’s western suburbs, Tony Haley also found an advantage to the weather. He owns a landscaping and irrigation company that offers snow removal and salting services, but the early winter weeks offered few opportunities for business.
“This one here, we’re looking for a good two, three days of work,” Haley said after clearing snow away from several businesses in Canton.
But for those on the roads, the heavy snow created hazardous conditions. In central Missouri, officials shut down part of Interstate 70 midday Wednesday after a crash made the roadway impassable.
The disruptive storm began Tuesday and moved across the central U.S. on Wednesday’s Groundhog Day, the same day the famed groundhog Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter. The storm came on the heels of a nor’easter last weekend that brought blizzard conditions to many parts of the East Coast.
The storm’s path extended as far south as Texas, nearly a year after a catastrophic freeze buckled the state’s power grid in one of the worst blackouts in U.S. history. The forecast did not call for the same prolonged and frigid temperatures as the February 2021 storm, and the National Weather Service said the system would, generally, not be as bad this time for Texas.
Airlines canceled nearly 8,000 flights in the U.S. scheduled for Wednesday or Thursday, the flight-tracking service FlightAware.com showed. Airports in St. Louis, Chicago, Kansas City and Detroit canceled more flights than usual. Almost 700 flights were canceled Thursday alone at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, and more than 300 were canceled at nearby Dallas Love Field.
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Bleed reported from Little Rock, Arkansas. Associated Press writers Terry Wallace in Dallas; James Anderson in Denver; Teresa Crawford in Chicago; and Mike Householder in Canton, Michigan, contributed to this report.