Millions face monster storm moving up the East Coast

Freezing rain, sleet and snow will fall along the Southeast on Wednesday -- and lead the way for a brutal winter storm that is expected to strengthen rapidly as it moves toward the Northeast.

It could be the first time in years that some portions of the Southeast have snow. Residents in Tallahassee, Florida, are expecting up to an inch of snow and ice on Wednesday, but the city has not had measurable snowfall since 1989, said CNN meteorologist Michael Guy.
Gov. Nathan Deal issued a state of emergency Tuesday for 28 Georgia counties in the coastal region ahead of the storm.
Authorities are urging people to stay home as millions of people in the eastern half of the US face below and near freezing temperatures Wednesday. Many schools canceled classes and government offices closed across the Florida panhandle and along the entire east coast shoreline.
Track the snow's path here.
Florida, southern Georgia and the coastal Carolinas will get a few inches of snow plus some ice before the storm turns into a monster storm, dropping heavy snowfall along the Mid-Atlantic coast and into the Northeast, forecasters say.

 Deadly freeze

At least 11 people in the US have died since Tuesday morning in cold-related deaths, officials said.

A 27-year-old woman was found dead on the shore of Lake Winnebago after she left a New Year's Eve gathering in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Authorities said Lindsey Klima stepped outside to smoke a cigarette and could have fallen at the shoreline before she succumbed to the cold, CNN affiliate WLUK reported.

Klima's death is among five weather-related deaths in Wisconsin. Two other people have died in North Dakota and Missouri.

Four others have died in Texas, including two homeless people who died in Houston after being exposed to freezing conditions, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo tweeted.