(CNN) A broad swath of the US won't have to dream of a white Christmas as winter weather bears down on much of the Northwest, Midwest and Northeast on Sunday. They'll be seeing snow from two separate storms.

More than 60 million people live in areas that are under winter weather alerts, which includes advisories, warnings and lake-effect snow warnings.

A storm system that was located over Des Moines, Iowa, and Kansas City on Sunday morning was moving eastward.

A broad area of the U.S., from the Rockies to Plains and Ohio Valley will see at least an inch of snow on Christmas Eve. pic.twitter.com/tvPHuAphts — NWS (@NWS) December 24, 2017

The storm began affecting Chicago around 10 a.m. and Detroit and Cleveland by the early afternoon. Heavy snow should begin in Buffalo, New York, and Pennsylvania after 8 p.m., and snowfall amounts of 2 to 4 inches are expected across a wide band of the Northeast.

Certain narrow bands in upstate New York could see major snowfall totals of 2 feet or more due to lake-effect enhancement. The National Weather Service forecast for the area included totals as high as 50 inches in specific parts.

Read More