Many dangers: Heavy storms bring snow, ice and bitter cold. Live updates

 Many dangers: Heavy storms bring snow, ice and bitter cold. Live updates

More than 60 million Americans were under winter weather and storm warnings Sunday, while some areas had seen more than two feet of snow since Friday's snowfall, and parts of the Midwest and East were already experiencing bitter cold and preparing for a historic storm. As of Sunday morning, Erie, Pennsylvania, had received more than 17 inches of snow. Rome, New York, was hit with about two feet of snow, AccuWeather reported. Parts of upstate New York reported more than 30 inches of snow in recent days.

The governors of Kentucky and Virginia declared states of emergency ahead of the weather system. The National Weather Service warned that some areas could experience the most intense storms in  a decade. Many schools that had been scheduled to reopen Monday after a two-week winter  break had to postpone their reopening by a day or more.

"The storm is still taking shape," said Rich Vann, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center. "But this object poses several hazards, ranging from heavy snowfall in the plains to significant ice on roads further south." The storm was expected to hit Sunday night in the Arlington and Washington, D.C., areas that don't get much snow this winter. The weather service warned that 12 to 23 centimeters of  snow and sleet were expected. If heavy snowdrifts form in the region, individual locations could get 25 to 30 centimeters of snow, meteorologists said.