Massive winter storm cancels thousands of flights across US as snow, ice and sleet slam 25 states sparking power outages

More than 60,000 outages have been recorded across Texas as of 10:30am EST today, according to .

Around 40,000 blackouts have been recorded in Hunt County alone.

Dallas is likely to get up to three-tenths of an inch of ice and up to three inches of snow.

Temperatures in the city could plunge to bitter lows of 19F today and 14F on Friday as the polar blast hits.

The worst of the bad weather is expected to hit between midnight and noon CT today.

Meanwhile, the mercury in San Antonio and Houston could plunge to lows of 25F and 27F.

Read our Winter Storm live blog for the very latest news and updates...

Southwest Airlines have scrapped around 940 flights today while American Airlines have axed at least 500 flights.

More than 100 flights at Orlando airport have been canceled due to the winter storm, according to reporter Ezzy Castro.

Amtrak has axed several train routes in and out of Chicago, including the Cardinal Train 51 route to New York, revealed.

Train services that were due to run between Oklahoma City and Fort Worth, and New Orleans and Chicago have been canceled.

It comes after more than 2,300 flights within, into, or out of the US were canceled on Wednesday.

BITTER CHILL

Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan were blasted with freezing rain, sleet, and snow on Wednesday.

Between eight and 12 inches of the white stuff fell in the Denver metro area, while areas near Colorado Springs saw as much as 20 inches.

The town of Lewistown, located in central Illinois, was blanketed with 14.4 inches of snow, while the northeastern city of Hannibal in Missouri saw 11.5 inches.

Andrew Orrison, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Maryland, said snowfall totals could range between 12 to 18 inches in central Illinois and northern Indiana by the end of Thursday.

More than 40,000 and 20,000 people are without electricity in Tennessee and Arkansas respectively, according to PowerOutage US.

Arkansas Governor Hutchinson has declared a state of emergency due to the storm, while universities in Missouri shifted classes to online learning or axed them entirely.

Illinois lawmakers canceled their three scheduled days of session this week as officials ramped up preparations for heavy snow and ice.

And, Oklahoma governor Kevin Stitt has declared a statewide state of emergency that would remain in effect for seven days.

The National Weather Service said up to 12 inches of snow was expected by Thursday morning in parts of the Rockies and Midwest.

Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter on this year's Groundhog Day.

People gathered on Wednesday at Gobbler’s Knob as members of the animal's “inner circle” summoned him from his tree stump at dawn to learn if he would see his shadow.

According to folklore, there will be six more weeks of winter if he sees his shadow. If he doesn’t, spring comes early.