issues. and because this is a storm that affects areas from texas, eventually all the way up into illinois, indiana, and ohio, we have a dozen states that could end up with this icing situation affecting about 30 million people. and if the power goes out in the bigger cities, it could be one of those situations where it takes a long time to get the power restored because this ice is heavy. now, it s a slow process. at about 9:00 here this morning in ft. smith, arkansas, we saw the temperature drown to 32 degrees. it s like flipping a switch. it went from rain over to freezing rain, and all of the sudden the icicles start forming on everything. yesterday in this area, it was about 60-some degrees. the road surface itself is not frozen yet. however, the bridges and the overpasses and as this whole storm continues through the night and into tomorrow, the roads are only going to get more and more slick. so besides the power outages, we could end up seeing travel becoming a huge and dangero
they re made of 88% active ingredients. and the competition clocks in at 13%. so with tide pods, you know what you get, and what you get is an amazing clean. so try tide pods. why? the proof is in the pop. you re in the cycle. here are the stories america is talking about today. the slippery slope, a dangerous december storm has 32 million of us in its path. i m abby huntsman. our views are on the road and manning the weather maps to bring you the very latest. the fast track, the fast food workers hop the counters and head to the picket lines demanding better wages. the cycle will take you straight to the streets. we re also going to talk about the counter argument to raising wages. the real guy. new details about paul walker off the big screen. turns out this guy had a really big heart, and that was no act.
tamron? and as i understand it, dylan, there s another storm out west. i mean, we re focusing heavily right now on the midwest as well as the east here, but california expecting some trouble as well. reporter: yes, actually yesterday california had wind turbines going just to prevent the frost from damaging all the crops out that way. but actually that next storm that s moving into the west coast, that s going to move into this area again by sunday. so even though we re looking at an ice storm today and tomorrow, we ll get a break on saturday, but then more ice is going to be a concern for sunday. and if the power is already out, it s only going to make things harder to clean up. all right, dylan. thank you so much. greatly appreciate you standing out there for us. and still ahead, animal expert jack hanna will join me live to talk about the dozens of stranded whales still off florida s coast. the reports say there s some progress being made, but there s still a lot of major co
road and power crews from texas to ohio are mobilizing right now in anticipation of what s expected to be the worst ice storm to hit the u.s. in years. a storm that could knock out power for days for hundreds of thousands of people. drivers in the areas affected are being urged to stay off the road today and tonight due to the treacherous conditions. several highways have already been closed down. nbc meteorologist dylan dreyer is in ft. smith, arkansas. they re expected to be one of the states hit hardest. we know snow is certainly bad. i ll tell you, and you know this, you re the meteorologist, when you get this kind of these ice estimates, it s dangerous to drive, power outages, it can be pretty bad there. reporter: and it can be pretty bad because it looks like rain. you don t realize it s freezing rain until you see what it does to everything it touches. look at some of the bushes. i mean, even something as small as these little bushes are covered with the freezing rain. but i