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 urged people to stay off the roads Wednesday in portions of Virginia and North Carolina where a storm dropped heavy snow and caused hundreds of accidents in places unaccustomed to significant accumulations.

The last in a long train of storms will bring snow and ice to the Mid-Atlantic and Carolinas on Wednesday. While Washington will be near the northern edge of the storm starting late in the morning — with a dusting to a half-inch of snow possible in the District and areas to the south by the evening — impacts will be moderate to major farther south.