Even as Israel is set to receive its own first snowstorm of the year, the East Coast of the US has come in for a particularly serious blizzard, with already at least 10 deaths caused by the storm.
The deaths, which took place in North Carolina, Virginia and Kentucky, were largely caused by car accidents that came about due to the icy roads.
Over 200,000 people have been left without power according to energy companies, with over half of them in the Carolinas, and over 8,000 flights have been cancelled - and the storm is still just getting started, with over 85 million people in its path.
Washington DC and New York came in for a brunt of the brutal weather, and hundreds of motorists were stranded on ice-bound interstates.
No fewer than 11 states have declares states of emergency, including Georgia, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Kentucky, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Delaware, Virginia and West Virginia. Washington for its part declared a "snow emergency."
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Saturday that the storm will almost definitely be among the "top five snowstorms" recorded in the Big Apple in terms of snow accumulation.
Already by 10 a.m. on Saturday 11.5 inches (nearly 30 cm) had built up in Central Park, and a total of up to 25 inches (63.5 cm) are anticipated by the end of the storm.
"This is bad and it's getting worse rapidly," de Blasio said.