People across parts of Alabama woke up Friday morning to snow blanketing their streets and police warning of impassable roads. The winter storm forecasters have warned of through the week from Huntsville to Birmingham began sometime over night.

Due to the vagaries of weather in Alabama in winter, winter precipitation may happen in the far reaches of northern part of the state − or there may be a mix of cold rain and snow flurries as far south as the Highway 80 corridor.

At least 46 million people were under a winter storm warning as of Thursday as the storm spreads along the Gulf Coast Friday, according to the weather service. The storm should weaken by Saturday, bringing lighter snow between 1 and 3 inches to parts of the Northeast, the Mid-Atlantic and the Ohio Valley before exiting off the Carolinas.