Monster winter storm keeps biting: power outages mount, flights collapse, and ice lingers into Monday

A massive winter storm remained the top U.S. story on Sunday, January 25, 2026, as snow, sleet and freezing rain spread across a huge swath of the country and drove a cascade of travel, power and safety problems. The National Weather Service said the system would continue through Monday in many areas, and that dangerously low temperatures could keep ice and infrastructure problems in place for days even after the main band of precipitation moves on. ([apnews.com](https://apnews.com/article/7ea143995026e68db42ed1b4aec396cb))

With conditions deteriorating across major corridors, power failures became a defining feature of the event. Reports showed more than 100,000 customers without electricity in Tennessee and Texas on Sunday morning, with additional large totals in Mississippi and Louisiana. Officials warned that the most damaging icing could be "catastrophic" in parts of the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic, raising the risk of downed trees, damaged lines and extended restoration timelines. ([apnews.com](https://apnews.com/article/7ea143995026e68db42ed1b4aec396cb))

Air travel nearly seized up at several hubs. Flight trackers recorded more than 10,000 cancellations on Sunday and thousands of delays on top of that, with disruptions rippling into Monday as aircraft and crews were displaced. At some airports the schedule was almost entirely scrubbed, and airlines urged travelers to check rebooking options before leaving for terminals. ([apnews.com](https://apnews.com/article/7ea143995026e68db42ed1b4aec396cb))

Federal and state emergency actions expanded alongside the storm’s footprint. President Donald Trump approved emergency declarations for at least a dozen states by Saturday, and federal responders pre-positioned supplies, staff and search-and-rescue resources to support local authorities dealing with ice, accidents and outages. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said FEMA and partner agencies were preparing for prolonged impacts. ([apnews.com](https://apnews.com/article/7ea143995026e68db42ed1b4aec396cb))

On the ground, forecasters warned the most treacherous period can arrive after the first round of precipitation, when refreezing turns previously treated roads and sidewalks into slick sheets. Local officials repeatedly urged people to avoid nonessential travel, to conserve phone batteries, and to prepare for the possibility of longer-than-usual power restoration as crews contend with thick ice and continued cold.

For travelers already caught in the shutdown, the advice was largely practical: use airline apps and call centers to rebook, look for alternate routings before speaking to agents, and remember that U.S. rules require refunds for canceled flights if passengers choose not to travel, even on nonrefundable tickets. In many cases, airlines were offering fee-free rebooking because weather was the cause, but seats remained scarce as demand piled into the next available departures. ([apnews.com](https://apnews.com/article/871ea9cf98ec399bce4dccf0cffa2c01))

The storm’s reach also complicated public events and routine government operations, as large portions of the country fell under winter weather warnings. Officials emphasized that the system’s size and duration—not only snowfall totals—made it unusually disruptive, especially in regions more vulnerable to ice than to heavy snow.