A Look at Cities Expected to Get Hit Hardest by Storm

Nashville, Tupelo, Miss., are among them
Posted Jan 23, 2026 9:49 AM CST
A Look at Cities Expected to Get Hit Hardest by Storm
A Nashville Department of Transportation truck applies salt brine to a roadway Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn., ahead of the weekend storm.   (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

It's coming. The massive blast of ice and snow dubbed Winter Storm Fern by the Weather Channel was expected to start by hitting Texas and Oklahoma hard on Friday, reports the AP. Before it's done, some 230 million people across the US are likely to be affected through the weekend, notes the Guardian. The Washington Post singles out a dozen cities expected to take the hardest hits:

  • Oklahoma City, 9 out of 10 on its storm-impact rating
  • Dallas/Fort Worth, 9 out of 10
  • Little Rock, Arkansas, 8 out of 10
  • Tupelo, Mississippi, 10 out of 10 ("crippling" amounts of ice is behind the high score)
  • Nashville, Tennessee, 9 out of 10
  • Cincinnati, 9 out of 10
  • Pittsburgh, 9 out of 10
  • Charlotte, North Carolina, 9 out of 10
  • Richmond, Virginia, 9 out of 10
  • Wider DC area, 9 out of 10
  • New York City, 8 out of 10
  • Boston, 9 out of 10

The full Post story has detailed forecasts on each of those cities. The Weather Channel, meanwhile, has a color bar laying out where the risk of at least 0.25 inches of ice is most likely across the country. Forecasters emphasize that even after Fern peters out early Monday, bitter cold temperatures will remain.

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