Pictures: Snowstorms hit US Midwest and Northwest

Tens of millions of Americans were in the pathway of dangerous and damaging weather conditions as snowstorms moved across the Northwest and Midwest, flooding threatened the East Coast and potential tornadoes were on tap in the South. | Above: Signs along US Highway 75, advise against travel due to snow, on January 12, 2024, in Omaha, Nebraska.

Airlines delayed more than 7,600 flights across the US on Friday, including planes grounded at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport due to winds and blinding snow. | Above: An airplane takes off during blizzard conditions at O'Hare Airport in Chicago, Illinois.

Blizzards arrived in much of the upper Midwest on Friday morning with heavy snows and fierce winds of up to 96 kph that were expected to continue into Saturday, the National Weather Service (NWS) warned. | Above: A worker blows snow from the sidewalk after a blizzard left several inches of snow in West Des Moines, Iowa.

More than 133,000 homes and businesses lost power in Michigan, according to data from PowerOutage.US. The lights went out for another 150,000-plus customers in Wisconsin, West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania. | Above: Snow continues to fall over the American Gothic Barn on Friday, Jan. 12, 2024, in Mount Vernon.

"This storm system is definitely dangerous," said Zack Taylor, a meteorologist with the NWS' Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland. The service cautioned against unnecessary travel, noting that visibility on some roads in Chicago was less than half a mile.

Taylor warned of risks of frostbite and hypothermia in Iowa, where temperatures for most of the state were forecast to drop below minus 18 degrees Celsius. | Above: A man uses a snow blower to clear snow from his driveway in Sioux City, Iowa.

The snow and wind contributed to more than 7,600 delays of flights within, into or out of the United States on Friday, according to FlightAware, with Chicago's O'Hare and Midway airports topping the list. | Above: Travellers check their flight status at O'Hare Airport on January 12, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. AFP

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is expected to receive some of the heaviest snow as the blizzard will drop 12 to 18 inches, with wind gusts up to 40 mph through the weekend. | Above: A man shovels as a winter storm arrives on Friday, in Milwaukee. AP

Western New York, including Buffalo, could get more than a foot of snow. But after this system pushes east, "lake-effect" snow could bring several more inches through Monday to the Buffalo area.

Another 13 million people who live near the Atlantic Ocean or large waterways in Virginia north into New England were under the threat of flooding from heavy rains and snows over the past few days.

To the south in Mississippi, some 3 million people were under the threat of tornadoes and severe thunderstorms as the NWS warned that the winds of up to 60 mph could damage roofs and take down trees and power lines.

A winter storm system was also hitting the Pacific Northwest on Friday, and tracking through the Central Rockies with heavy snow that could drop "a couple feet of snow" at the higher elevations over the weekend, Taylor said.

A pedestrian walks through snow during a winter storm ahead of the Iowa caucus in Des Moines, Iowa.

A man cleans the snow off a walkway in front of a house in Wheeling, Illinois.

Snow covers a placard for US Republican presidential candidate Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in Davenport, Iowa, as record-breaking cold continues to complicate the Iowa caucuses with snowy weather canceling many events.

A man cleans the snow off a walkway in front of a house in Wheeling, Illinois.

Trees are covered by snow in Wheeling, Illinois.