Good evening, and we begin with that state of emergency, more than four feet of snow in 24 hours. Tonight 225 million Americans dealing with frigid cold, drivers trapped on highways, part of a key interstate in upstate New York closed. Travel bans in effect as we head into the night. Look at this time lapse in Buffalo, New York of the snow rolling in over that city, lake effect is not new there, but this is severe and early. Many saying the worst in memory. This image from the New York state through way covered in several feet of snow. You can see the tire tracks there. From the north in Michigan, treacherous driving all the way to the south, record cold in Georgia. The national weather service reporting more than 1,000 records shattered with this system. Ginger zee is standing by with the forecast but we begin with gio Benitez where drivers spent the day trapped. Reporter: David. This storm is dumping three to five inches of snow per hour that could take days to clean up. Tonight an incredible wintery mix. Whiteout conditions and drifts up to seven feet. Snow blower doesn't do anything. Reporter: It's just past noon and this storm is pounding Buffalo. The conditions are to treacherous that cops are here telling people to get off these roads. Many cars completely buried. 130 miles of the through way shut down, hundreds stranded for hours. I've been stuck here since about 5:00 A.M. As you can see, it's white everywhere. Cars are stuck. We aren't going anywhere probably for a while. We are having some difficulty in obtaining enough tow trucks to help clean the roads of cars that are abandoned. Reporter: Further west in Kalamazoo, Michigan, these semitrucks crashed. Both drivers survived. All night and day viewers sending images, this woman completely disappearing into a snow drift. In addition to the snow tonight, the bone shattering cold for more than 225 million Americans, from Kansas City where they hit a new record low today all the way to Atlanta where wind chills were in the teens. Back in the great Lakes where residents are used to lots of snow, they're hunkering down. Just roll with it. Reporter: The concern is now what happens when all of this snow melts. With more storms on the way, David, officials are concerned that this could lead to potentially serious flooding here. That will be a real problem for them in the days to come. Thanks leading us off. Let's get right to ginger zee. It is not over. We're talking three more days in lake effect snow Zones. I want to take you straight to the map. You can see how it comes directly off the lake, unforgiving just south of Buffalo. And that line is going to keep going. So we have a forecast, again, through the end of the week that adds another two to even three feet in some places. Yes, just south of Buffalo, also watertown and look at west Michigan, all of these places, even northern Michigan seeing rough times ahead. A lot is fueled by this arctic air. We are not alone in the north. Look at tomorrow morning, Orlando and a wind chill advisory. Record cold in the south. Ginger zee, thanks to you. To the other breaking