A major winter storm system is bringing another blast of frozen precipitation on Tuesday to areas that have been hit with widespread power outages.
A significant ice storm is happening over parts of Texas and Oklahoma, where freezing rain and mixed precipitation will fall through Tuesday night.
"This is a big deal," Fox News senior meteorologist Janice Dean said on "Fox & Friends." "This is going to cause a lot of travel problems."
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Up to one-quarter to a one-half inch of ice may accumulate in some areas, leading to travel delays, downed tree limbs, and power outages.
Snow covers the windshields of delivery vans parked outside a dairy after an autumn snowstorm swept over the intermountain West, Monday, Oct. 26, 2020, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
"In some cases, it's going to be too dangerous to travel with ice accumulation on the roads and the powerlines and the highway and the bridges as well," Dean said.
More than 111,000 Oklahoma Gas & Electric (OG&E) customers were without power Tuesday morning as the ice storm caused widespread outages across the state. (Oklahoma Gas & Electric)
Lighter but still hazardous ice amounts are expected for west-central Texas and southern Kansas.
In Oklahoma, more than 200,000 Oklahoma Gas & Electric (OG&E) customers were without power Tuesday morning as the ice storm caused widespread outages across the state, which totaled over 280,000 as of midday Tuesday.
"Ice accumulation on trees with foliage is the primary cause of outages and damage," the utility tweeted.
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More than 1,000 linemen, tree trimmers and support team members are working throughout the day, but due to "extensive damage" the utility does not have restoration times available.
Winter storm and ice storm warnings are up Tuesday across the southern Rockies and into the Plains.
Conditions were particularly severe in the Oklahoma City area, where the Oklahoma City Police Department tweeted Tuesday morning and said they are not currently responding to non-injury crashes.
"Take it easy if you have to be out this morning!" the department tweeted.
Photos posted to social media showed ice-covered trees that were sagging from the added weight and downed limbs.
Additional snow and wind from the storm system will cause difficulties if not impossible travel as well over the Southern Rockies into the Southern and Central Plains.
People walk past a glowing tree as they visit a park during the first snow of the season Monday, Oct. 26, 2020, in Merriam, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
The conditions appeared to have contributed to at least one deadly crash in Kansas. A man in Harvey County was killed Monday night after rear-ending a vehicle with his pickup truck, KAKE-TV reported.
The truck rolled several times, ejecting the 33-year-old drive who died of his injuries. The driver of the car was taken to a hospital in Wichita with serious injures.
The cold front associated with this system has brought temperatures down to record levels with frigid wind chills.
Forecast snow and ice accumulations from the major storm system. (Fox News)
Several inches of snow will accumulate over an impressive swath of these states.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE WEATHER COVERAGE FROM FOX NEWS
This winter storm charging across the Plains will help steer Zeta as it approaches the Louisiana coast on Wednesday and makes landfall as the fifth storm across the pummeled coastline.
Hurricane watches and warnings are up over south-central and southeastern Louisiana. Heavy rain, storm surge, strong winds and isolated tornadoes will be possible along Zeta’s path.
Zeta will spread heavy rain inland after making landfall and interact with the winter storm over the Plains. (Fox News)
Another day of critical to extreme fire danger is also in store for the West.
Red flag warnings stretch across California due to ongoing wildfire concerns. (Fox News)
Santa Ana winds on Monday will start to calm down a bit on Tuesday, but red flag warnings are still up for southern California and along the coast.
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