The National Weather Service predicts the ice storm will have wide-ranging impacts across the U.S. South through Thursday morning.

The National Weather Service predicts the ice storm will have wide-ranging impacts across the U.S. South through Thursday morning. / National Weather Service

Updated January 31, 2023 at 12:13 PM ET

A major winter storm battering the Southern U.S. has created dangerous travel conditions and disrupted thousands of flights. At least one person died in a car accident in Texas, authorities said.

The ice storm stretching from Texas to Tennessee will continue through at least Thursday morning, with expected ice accumulation affecting travel and possibly spurring scattered power outages, the National Weather Service reported.

Early Tuesday, sleet and freezing rain were falling across north and central Texas, with the NWS predicting that road conditions would become even more "treacherous" as the day wore on.

With icy and snowy conditions on roads across the state Tuesday morning, a number of accidents have already been reported. The Austin Fire Department said it was seeing a spike in multiple-car pile-ups causing significant injuries and that at least one person had died in a collision.

On Monday, Gov. Greg Abbott said he was mobilizing the resources of multiple state agencies to prepare for the storm.

"As we mobilize the resources Texans need to stay safe, I encourage everyone to remain weather-aware, check DriveTexas.org before traveling, and heed the guidance from local officials," Abbott said in a statement.

More than 1,300 U.S. flights were canceled Tuesday morning, and over 1,900 were delayed as of 11:30 a.m. ET, according to the flight tracker FlightAware. Most of the flight disruptions were at airports in Texas: Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and Dallas Love Field Airport.

Sleet, freezing rain and ice had also moved north into southern Oklahoma and parts of Arkansas, where hazardous road conditions were making driving dangerous and at least one accident was reported. Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said she activated winter weather support teams from the Arkansas National Guard.

Additionally, many schools and colleges in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas were planning to shut down or switch to online learning Tuesday, the Associated Press reported.

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