Nearly 30 U.S. states under winter weather alerts

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- More than 65 million people across 29 U.S. 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 United States 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.

The extreme weather is likely to make travel dangerous and lead to power outage in many regions.

California is bracing for several feet of snow expected in the mountains with a few inches possible in lower elevations, according to the U.S. National Weather Service in Los Angeles.

"Now is the time to prepare for a cold and dangerous winter storm expected for much of the week," the weather service in Los Angeles tweeted. "Gusty and potentially damaging winds are also expected."

More than 1,400 flights scheduled for Wednesday within the United States have been canceled, mostly in Minneapolis, Denver and Detroit, CNN reported, citing the tracking site FlightAware.