(NewsNation Now) — Snow, ice and freezing rain are tracking across the country Wednesday afternoon affecting portions of the central and eastern U.S. Winter weather alerts are in place for multiple states from the Northwest corner of the Texas Panhandle to Illinois and Indiana.

“This is going to be a pretty widespread event,” NewsNation meteorologist Gerard Jebaily said.

The National Weather Service predicts the storm will track from the Central Plains to the Great Lakes and Northeast while pulling in moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, creating widespread strong winds, snow and rain.

“One thing we’re certainly going to see is snow. We could see quite a bit of it from Wichita to Kansas City,” Jebaily said. “We’re talking about the possibility of four to eight inches of snow. The bigger totals will likely be toward the north and east.”

Winter weather alerts are active from the Front Range of the Rockies into the Great Lakes. Denver, Kansas City, Chicago and Detroit.

A severe weather threat is expected to hit southern Oklahoma through north Texas Wednesday and shift eastward into parts of the lower Mississippi Valley, Mid-South and Southeast on Thursday. Thunderstorms will develop and some will be capable of damaging winds, hail and spawning a few tornadoes.

A large area along the storm system’s path will experience heavy rain totals. Snowmelt water combined with the heavy rain will lead to the potential of flooding from southern Missouri into St. Louis, Indianapolis, and up through Northern Ohio including Detroit and most of New York state and Vermont.

As the storm moves toward New England on Thursday night, strong wind gusts over 50 mph will be widespread from Buffalo to Boston. The wintry weather mix will create dangerous road conditions for much of the country.