Brutal cold will open the door for a winter storm to take a somewhat unusual track through the South and create treacherous conditions.

Snow will turn into sleet and freezing rain along parts of the Southeast, as well as southern Arkansas, the weather service reported. Forecasters warn that icy conditions, between a tenth and a quarter inch of ice, will make travel dangerous for many. Power outages and downed branches are also a concern.

After a freezing winter storm shut schools, cut power and cancelled or delayed flights, the South is slowly thawing.

Twenty states, from Texas to Delaware, were on alert Friday for snow and ice as the storm continued to move across the South.

A winter storm that dropped heavy snow and glazed roads throughout the U.S. South was maintaining its icy grip on much of the region into the weekend.