The Midwest's 'snowpocalypse' predictions: By the numbers

"Do not travel! Stay inside!" is the alert from the National Weather Service, regarding a "life-threatening storm" that's hitting the Midwest Tuesday before sweeping across to the East Coast. The "potentially historic and destructive" storm is expected to be the worst of this already unusually harsh winter, and one of the biggest in recent years. As experts warn of blizzards, ice storms and sleet, bitter cold and civilization-stalling amounts of snow, here's a look at the latest "snowpocalypse" 2011, by the numbers:

100 million

Estimated number of people who could be affected by the storm

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1/3

Portion of U.S. population potentially affected by the storm

8

Number of states under blizzard warnings, as of Tuesday

328

Number of flights canceled nationwide, as of Monday afternoon

-50 degrees

Expected temperature, with wind chill, in Colorado, Wyoming, the Dakotas, and Kansas

2 feet

Amount of snow expected in some areas, including St. Louis, Milwaukee, and Kansas City

4 tons

Amount of ice-melt pellets Do it Best Hardware, near St. Louis, sold in four hours Monday

600

Number of National Guard troops mobilized in Missouri to deal with the storm

40 mph

Expected wind speeds in ice storm hitting Indiana

11,030

Number of Indianapolis residents without power as of Tuesday morning

20 inches

Predicted snowfall in Chicago

23 inches

Chicago's heaviest-ever snowstorm, in January 1967

19

The average number of years between storms of this size in Chicago

394

Number of plow trucks (and modified garbage trucks) Chicago has at the ready

60 mph

Predicted speed of wind gusts in the Windy City

5 inches

Predicted snowfall in central and Western Texas

Sources: Bloomberg Businessweek, NPR, Weather Channel, AP, CNN, Chicago Tribune, Indy 6 News, AFP, Time