More than 150million Americans are dreaming of a white Christmas. Meteorologists predict snowfall could blanket nearly half the nation on Tuesday - from Dallas to Maine - as a massive snowstorm moves from the Great Plains and up into the Northeast. Accuweather is now predicting that 'significant' snow will fall in Oklahoma and Arkansas, potentially giving Oklahoma City its first Christmas snowfall since 1914.

Little Rock Arkansas could get up to three inches. That last time more than an inch fell on Christmas Day was 1926.
Even Dallas, Texas, could see flurries for Christmas - though likely no accumulation. The last time Dallas saw snowfall on Christmas Day was 1997 - though a 2009 blizzard left several inches behind on Christmas Eve.

'Southern Oklahoma and Arkansas look like they're going to get slammed with some serious snow, strong winds -- four to eight inches in some places. It's a pretty powerful storm system,' Ted Ryan, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Fort Worth, Texas, told MailOnline.

Canada - Thousands of clients are without power across Quebec after a winter storm dumped 60 to 100 centimetres of snow in the Lanaudière and Laurentian regions.

Approximately 130,000 households were without electricity this morning, according to Sophie Lamoureux, director of regional affairs at Hydro Québec.

Lamoureux said that many Hydro Québec clients will have to wait until tomorrow evening before their power is restored.

The Laurentians is one of the most affected areas, where close to 77,000 people are without power. Many in the Lanaudière and Outaouais regions were also left in the dark.

Yesterday's heavy, wet snowfall was the main cause of the power outages, according to Lamoureux. She said the snow, combined with strong winds, brought down trees in heavily wooded areas in the Lanaudière region and the Laurentians.

She said Hydro Québec crews are working to restore electricity. They have also asked for extra assistance from other regions of the province that were less affected.

A major snowstorm that was sweeping across the Midwest and beyond on Thursday left at least seven people dead, clogged highways and forced hundreds of flight delays and cancellations at airports already bracing for the holiday rush.

The deaths included a woman in Utah who died trying to walk for help after her car became stuck in the blizzard. Storm-related traffic deaths also were reported in Kansas, Iowa, Wisconsin and Nebraska.

Blizzard warnings were in effect in Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Illinois, according to the National Weather Service. The Weather Channel reported that parts of 17 states are under winter weather advisories -- as far west as Washington state and as far east as Maine.

The southern edge of the storm system brought winds and damaged homes in Arkansas, the National Weather Service said. Alabama has confirmed that a tornado hit Mobile on Thursday morning, but the tornado's length and intensity were still being assessed. Tornado watches remained in place in Georgia and Florida.

The storm brought much-needed precipitation for drought-plagued regions but was bad news for holiday travelers. Most of the nation's big airlines responded to the storm's threat by enacting flexible rebooking policies for passengers scheduled to fly into the storm's path.

As of 5 p.m. ET Thursday, more than 1,000 flights had been canceled at airports across the Midwest, according to flight-tracking service FlightStats.com.

More than 600 flights were canceled at Chicago's two airports, O'Hare and Midway. Other flights at O'Hare were delayed between 30 and 90 minutes, the city's Department of Aviation reported at 3:30 p.m. CT. FlightAware reported inbound delays averaging 2½ hours because of high winds.

American Airlines announced that it was canceling flights scheduled to depart after 8 p.m. CT and that flights delayed earlier might leave after 8 p.m.

O'Hare is a major hub for both United and American, meaning the disruption could ripple out and affect fliers at other airports.

Winter Storm Draco will continue to dump heavy snow and bring strong winds to the Upper Midwest through Thursday night. Blizzard warnings and winter storm warnings remain in effect for several states in the region. Significant travel disruption is likely. Draco initially brought heavy snow and wind to the West earlier this week before spreading across the Plains and Upper Midwest Wednesday into Thursday. As we close out the week, Draco will sweep through the East Coast with rain and wind while turning on the lake-effect snow machine in the Great Lakes. The warm side of Draco has resulted in severe thunderstorms and tornado reports in the South.
As Draco's low intensifies and swings northeastward across the Great Lakes through Thursday night, moderate to locally heavy snow or rain changing to snow is expected in parts of the upper-Mississippi Valley and Great Lakes, targeting Iowa, Wisconsin, northern Illinois, northern Missouri and northern Michigan.

Snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour are likely at times in the heaviest snow bands and you may hear some rumbles of thunder during the snowstorm as well. Storm total snowfall amounts of 6 to 12 inches (locally more than a foot) are expected in the heaviest snow swath from parts of Iowa to Wisconsin and northern Michigan.

A major winter storm moving across the nation Wednesday is threatening to disrupt travel plans for millions of Americans heading home for Christmas. The weather system even has package delivery companies nervously checking out the forecast, with the timely delivery of precious gifts on the line.

"We're closely monitoring the storm," FedEx spokesman Scott Fiedler told NBC News. "We have a team of 15 meteorologists who track the weather around the world every day."

FedEx is seeing only minor delays so far but has contingency plans in place to help mitigate any effects of the weather, Fiedler said.

UPS, which projects that Thursday will be its busiest day of the holiday season, also has its staff meteorologists tracking the storm.

The death toll from Typhoon "Pablo" (international name: Bopha) has reached 1,043 as Philippine government workers with the recovery of 23 more cadavers in Compostela Valley, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said yesterday.

In its latest report, the NDRRMC said the typhoon destroyed more than 24.1 billion pesos worth of properties, including close to 16.4 billion pesos in agricultural crops and products.

The agency said searchers found and identified 22 bodies in Monkayo town and another cadaver in Compostela town, both in Compostela Valley province.

Of the total number of recovered bodies, it said 645 had been identified.

More than 6,000 people have been evacuated following heavy rain and flooding across parts of Sri Lanka, say officials.

"The number will likely increase," Pradeep Kodipilli, assistant director of the Sri Lankan Disaster Management Center (DMC), told IRIN on 18 December in Colombo, noting flood warnings remain in effect across 10 of the country's 25 districts - Galle, Matale, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Polonnaruwa, Badulla, Baticaloa, Hambantota, Moneragala and Kurunegala.

Heavy snow caused a traffic jam that extended to about 20 kilometers on a highway linking the Ukrainian capital and the Hungarian border as of late Sunday, authorities said.

The jam took place after a highway section between Buh and Brody districts was blanketed by snow as deep as three meters, said the Emergencies Ministry.

As of Monday morning, traffic were resumed for small vehicles as emergencies workers were struggling to clear the snow.

A woman stuck in the traffic jam had to give birth to her baby in her car before the emergency crews arrived. The mother and the baby were later sent to a local hospital.

Witnesses told Xinhua that they saw hundreds of cars were trapped, with snow piled up to the car roofs. The trapped were seeking help from nearby village for food and heating.

Souce:Xinhua

Up to 12 inches of further snowfall is forecast for parts of northern New England - and a second wintry storm is crossing the U.S. in its wake, according to Weather Channel meteorologist Kevin Roth. The current snowfall in northern New York state and New England will continue through Tuesday night and into Wednesday, with as much as 15 inches possible in some areas. Meanwhile, another cross-country storm - Winter Storm Draco - was expected to bring heavy snow to the Northwest on Monday. The higher elevations of the Cascades will see as much as 2 to 3 feet of snow above 7000 ft, Weather.com reported, with significant accumulations below 3000 ft.
The National Weather Service said the probability of "large amounts of snow remains high across the majority of windward facing slopes of the Pacific Northwest and portions of the Northern Rockies." King5.com reported that the storm is expected to bring high winds to Western Washington and whiteout conditions to the west slopes of the Cascades and passes. The system is expected to move to the Southwest and Rockies Tuesday and Wednesday before bringing snow to the eastern half of the country later Wednesday through Friday. Roth added there would likely be a lake-effect snow threat behind the storm on Thursday and Friday. -NBC

A cold snap has finally walloped much of Iran, bringing heavy snow, and leading to the temporary closure of a large section of intercity roads and schools. The cold weather has dropped as much as one meter of snow in the mountains, and sizeable inches in big cities and towns, like Tehran, where the National Weather Service says the temperature is above freezing.

The Ministry of Education says many schools have been closed nationwide and probably will remain so if heavy snow continues to cause limited visibility and freezing temperatures.

There have been no major accidents until now, thanks largely to the early preparation of the transport police, and of course round the clock snow plows to keep roads open. But the police are still urging drivers to check road and vehicle conditions before heading out.