Los Angeles, Feb 23 : More than 65 million people across 29 US states are under winter weather alerts that include warnings of severe icing and extreme coldness.

A massive winter storm is expected to bring heavy snow and a torrent of rain to most of the northern US this week, with "extreme impacts" felt across a wide swath of the country, CBS News reported on Wednesday.

The upper-level pattern will intensify in the coming days as millions of Americans, from the Pacific Northwest to the Northeast, brace for oncoming snow, frozen rain, strong winds and potential flash flooding.