Epic Snowstorm Heads for US East Coast

Snow plows and traffic make their way north along Interstate 95 as snow begins to fall in Ashland, Virginia, Jan. 22, 2016. Portions of Virginia are under a blizzard warning.

A pedestrian walks his dog in the median of Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia, Jan. 22, 2016.

Donna Przychodzki, of Secaucus, N.J., leaves Meadowlands Hardware with two snow shovels purchased in preparation for the weekend's storm, Jan. 22, 2016, in Rutherford, New Jersey.

NASA and NOAA satellites are tracking the large winter storm that is expected to bring heavy snowfall to the U.S. mid-Atlantic region on Jan. 22-23. NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite snapped this image of the approaching blizzard around 2:35 a.m. EST, Jan. 22, 2016.

Snow begins to stick on the cap and jacket of a U.S. Capitol Police, in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington D. C., Jan. 22, 2016.

Sand artist Sudarsan Patnaik gives puts the final touches on a sculpture honoring British physicist and award-winning author Stephen Hawking, at Puri beach, about 65 kilometers from Bhubaneswar, India. The renowned physicist, whose intellectual genius and physical disability made him a household name and an inspiration across the globe, died Wednesday at the age of 76.

A man walks through heavy snow in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, Jan. 22, 2016. Much of downtown was deserted as state and city government offices were closed for the day.

Duke Energy employees work to restore power in a neighborhood in Matthews, North Carolina, Jan. 22, 2016.

Pennsylvania Avenue looking toward the U.S. Capitol in Washington is virtually empty early in the morning, Jan. 22, 2016 as the Nation's capital hunkered down in preparation for a major snow storm expected to begin later in the day.

A convenience store in Raleigh, North Carolina, advertises the "essentials" as a winter storm threatens to dump the first big snow of the season, Jan. 21, 2016.

Vincent Ayd, left, owner of Ayd Hardware in Towson, Maryland, and truck driver Mike Jock, of Newark, Deleware, unload snow shovels and ice-melt in Towson, Jan. 21, 2016.

Employee Michael Torney (R) watches a customer carry out a bag of ice melt at Strosniders Hardware store in Silver Spring, Maryland, Jan. 21, 2016.

After a mild start, winter is making itself felt along the eastern United States as a residents prepare for a major winter storm.  The storm is expected to affect tens of millions of people from Kentucky through New England late Friday through Sunday.