A winter storm that brought snow, sleet and freezing rain to a large swath of the Midwest swept into the mid-Atlantic and Northeast on Thursday, causing treacherous travel conditions, prompting school delays and closures and potential power outages for millions of Americans.

ARLINGTON, Va. − A wall of snow, ice and rain was sweeping across the Northeast on Thursday, the first in a series of storms forecast to wallop much of the nation's northern tier over the next several days.

Days after Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter, a nasty ice storm packing sleet, snow and freezing rain will blast the East Coast on Thursday morning—and two more winter storms are also in the forecast for late Friday and next week.