Wintry mix pelts south central US, icy temps chill east

Video: Winter targets center of US

Closed captioning of: Winter targets center of US

>>> now to the weather. tonight, temperatures across much of the country have plunged into bitter cold territory. and some folks in parts of the south could wake up to record lows tomorrow morning . kelly cass is covering it for us at weather channel headquarters. good evening.

>> good evening, lester. even in parts of florida we have a freeze warning in effect and shelters have been opened up as well in the sarasota area, because in florida we have the cold air and that will set the stage for our next winter storm affecting millions of you in the south, even to areas of the northeast eventually. but for now, kansas city and st. louis, get ready for a snow day tomorrow. the pink is indicating where we're looking at a wintry mix , some sleet and freezing rain possibly for the northern parts of arkansas, getting into tennessee, even north georgia , by tomorrow night, we could actually see a dusting if not more on the ground over the north georgia mountains and eventually we'll see the system wind up in the northeast by tuesday with snow from buffalo, back towards albany and a mix across the ohio valley and there is your snow forecast, 2 to 4 inches around springfield, missouri. back

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updated 2/12/2012 2:37:56 PM ET

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The south central United States was pelted with a wintry mix of snow and freezing rain that threatened travel on Sunday, while frigid temperatures chilled the East Coast during what has been an unseasonably mild winter, forecasters said.

Arctic air was in place across parts of the Southern and Central Plains, where light snow and freezing rain were expected through Monday, according to the National Weather Service.

A winter weather advisory was in effect for parts of New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa, the NWS said.

A possibility of 1 to 3 inches of snow could accumulate from the Texas Panhandle to the middle Mississippi River Valley, it said.

Coupled with freezing rain, a large swath of the middle of the country should brace for tough travel conditions, it said.

Meanwhile, cold air blanketed much of the East and South with highs generally 5 to 20 degrees below average, according to the Weather Channel.

Icy temperatures in northern New England were barely expected to climb into the teens, it said.

Although sub-freezing temperatures were expected for the Southeast and much of Florida Sunday night, the NWS said there would be a return to near normal temperatures by Tuesday across the eastern United States.

A cold front moving toward the West Coast was expected to drench the Pacific Northwest later Sunday with steady rain, then veer south on Monday bringing scattered rain to the California coast and heavy snow showers to the Sierra Nevada mountain range, NWS said.