Areas from Texas to the Carolinas will experience their first major winter storm in years from Thursday into the weekend — with snow stretching as far north as New England, and into areas pummeled by a storm earlier this week.

A developing winter storm system is threatening many southern states with a mix of snow, sleet and rain late Wednesday night and into Friday, the National Weather Service says.

An area stretching from Texas to Tennessee braced Wednesday for the expected arrival of freezing rain and snow, as some other parts of the country that already received an arctic blast this week prepared to go another round with the plunging polar vortex.