Roughly 50 million Americans are under a winter weather warning, advisory or watch on Friday as a major winter storm is forecast to bring hazardous snow and ice affecting large parts of the contiguous U.

A major, disruptive winter storm was sweeping across the central U.S. on Sunday, forecasters said, bringing with it a dreaded combination of snow, ice and plunging temperatures. The National Weather Service issued winter storm warnings from Kansas and Missouri — where blizzard conditions are expected — to New Jersey.