The latest in a repeated pattern of winter storms is taking direct aim at the East Coast where heavy snow and some ice is forecast in several states.

At least nine states from Georgia to Delaware are under snow and ice alerts as a winter storm moves east -- with brutal, record-breaking cold temperatures in the Midwest and Central U.S. in the wake of the storm.

Officials have urged residents to stay off the roads in portions of Virginia and North Carolina, where a storm dropped heavy snow and caused hundreds of accidents in places that aren’t accustomed to significant accumulations.

A powerful winter storm that dumped heavy snow on communities from the Plains to the Tennessee Valley is continuing on its journey across the U.S. toward the East Coast where more winter weather, including ice,