Snow, sleet to bring dreary weekend along 1,000-mile stretch of U.S.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa., Dec. 13 (UPI) -- Heavy snow and slippery roads will combine to give tens of millions of people along a 1,000-mile swath of the United States a dreary weekend, forecasters say.

Arctic air rushing through 16 states from the Midwest to the Northeast is also likely to delay or cancel many flights by Sunday, Accuweather.com reported Friday.

The storm was expected to spread across the Midwest late Friday and move into the Northeast by Saturday night.

Long stretches of Interstates 70, 75, 80 and 90 in the Midwest may be covered in snow, and areas in central Missouri into the Ohio Valley are expected to see a mix of snow, sleet and rain.

A slim region from Roanoke, Va., into Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Md., is predicted to see only rain. Farther north along the Interstate 95 corridor, 1 to 3 inches of snow may accumulate before snowflakes turn to rain drops.

Residents of portions of Pennsylvania could see up to 6 inches of snow.

The storm could linger into Sunday through much of New England, causing long-lasting disruptions to travel. Some 6 to 12 inches of snow could fall from northeastern Pennsylvania, the Catskills and the Hudson Valley into New Hampshire and Maine, forecasters said.

Up to 18 inches of snow is possible in some areas in the region.