Winter Storm Watch: The National Weather Service issues this when conditions are favorable for a winter storm to begin within 48 hours. Issuance usually occurs at 36-48 hours before the event is expected to begin.

On Monday at 4:05 a.m. the National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning valid from Tuesday 6 a.m. until Wednesday 6 a.m. for Marengo, Dallas, Lowndes, Montgomery, Macon, Bullock, Russell, Pike and Barbour counties.

Tens of millions of residents along the East Coast are bracing for several inches of snow Sunday followed by dangerously cold temperatures that will grip much of the country from the Northern Plains to the tip of Maine.