The South and the West are bracing for some particularly abominable winter weather

(Image credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

published 6 January 2017

Not even the South is exempt from brutal winter weather this weekend. A winter storm warning for Friday and Saturday stretching from "eastern Alabama through north Georgia, including Atlanta, and into the Carolinas and part of Virginia," has prompted several states to cancel school, The Associated Press reported Friday. In North Carolina, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper's inauguration activities slated for Saturday have been canceled, and both Alabama and Georgia have issued emergency declarations. Most areas of the affected southern states are expected to receive about 4 inches of snow, with central North Carolina bracing for as much as 7 inches in some areas.

The weather isn't looking much better out west either. In some areas of Wyoming, temperatures dropped as low as minus 44 degrees Fahrenheit on Friday morning, with wind chills in some areas dropping to minus 56 degrees. Officials have asked people to limit their time outside and avoid unnecessary travel because of the threat of frostbite or hypothermia.