A winter storm system packing snow, sleet and ice is bearing down on more than 20 million people this weekend, with heavy snow expected along a 1,500-mile path from Denver to New York City.

Among the big cities in the path of the storm: Kansas City, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Louisville, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Washington and Baltimore.

A lingering winter storm is expected in parts of West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and North Carolina. Snow is forecast to slip quickly eastward early in the weekend, and may linger into Monday in some areas.

The heaviest snowfall accumulations – up to 10 or 12 inches in some areas, including St. Louis – are expected across northern Missouri and central Illinois, according to the National Weather Service.

The storm will most likely disrupt travel in the mid-Atlantic as it settles in on Saturday night. "Ripple-effect flight delays and cancellations are possible prior to the storm's arrival across the mid-Atlantic." says AccuWeather senior meteorologist Alex Sosnowski.

Motorists along key Interstate highways will be hardest hit, especially the I-64 and I-70 corridors of the Plains and Midwest.

Farther East, the storm could bring havoc along I-64, which stretches from St. Louis to Richmond, I-81, from New York to Tennessee, and along I-95, particularly on Virginia's Eastern seaboard.

Forecasts indicate that New England will escape the snowy onslaught, leaving dry and cold conditions – but no snow – for the NFL playoff game in Foxborough, Massachusetts, Sunday afternoon.

The Weather Channel has named the storm Winter Storm Gia. No other weather company, nor the National Weather Service, uses that name.