Thursday's recap: Winter storm wreaks havoc as it moves over the U.S.

This is was live blog that will be updated about every hour, discussing any important updates about the winter storm moving across the nation bringing dangerously cold temperatures, strong winds, and heavy snow for some.

Settling in to a dangerously cold night across much of the U.S. As of 9:00 p.m. ET, more than 90,000 are without power in Texas. Travel conditions remain treacherous across the Plains, Midwest, and into the South. Check in with our expert meteorologists tomorrow morning for the latest forecast.

Nearly 60,000 are without power in Texas as cold air continues to push in. Crews are working to restore power, but frigid temperatures are likely to produce more power outages into the night. I-29 stretching from Sioux Falls, S.D. to the North Dakota border is closed due to the weather.

As of 6:45 p.m. ET, more than 47,000 are without power in Texas and more than 13,000 are without power in Missouri as frigid air and winter weather continues to impact much of the U.S.

Snow squalls are possible through the evening hours for far eastern Illinois, Indiana, western Kentucky, far southern Michigan, and far western Ohio as the strong cold front shifts east. Snow squalls can reduce visibility and cause brief whiteouts.

The closure of I-90 in South Dakota now extends from Rapid City to Sioux Falls, S.D. Whiteout conditions and numerous stranded vehicles will keep the highway closed through Friday.

The cold front is on the move and the next big metropolitan city where temperatures will drop in Houston. At 2:52 p.m., the temperature at Bush International is 56 degrees. The leading edge of the front is quickly approaching and temperatures will begin to fall short.

The winds will also start to pick up and you can expect dangerously cold wind chill tonight and Friday. Some areas near Houston could experience 0F wind chill.

Do you have plans to go to Niagara Falls Friday or Saturday? Probably not the best conditions! Blizzard warnings were posted for western New York in the Buffalo area. Flash freeze from rain to snow, then 1 to 3 feet of snow from the lake effect. Winds could be as strong as 70 mph. The waves along Lake Erie will be high, up to 24 feet.

Heavy bands of snow are crossing parts of southwest Missouri and another batch is moving across northern Illinois.

The winds are hauling over the Central Plains. In Lincoln, Nebraska, our WindRadar shows winds at 40 mph at 11:30 a.m. Stronger winds are sweeping over Oklahoma.

As far as the cold air, this one has arrived in Chicago. Expect the temperatures to continue to fall steadily and with the strong gusty winds, these will be dangerously cold overnight.

As snow continues to fall and the winds pick up, travel delays are rapidly increasing. Chicago O'hear is reporting an average delay of arrival flights of 2 hours and 19 minutes due to ice and snow building on the runways.

A bit more south, the front continues to push eastward. In Texas, a fellow meteorologist was traveling northwest of Austin and caught a glimpse of the front from above at about 28,000 feet. This is how the front looks from above. The wrinkles are due to the cold air and strong winds pushing the clouds.

As snow continues to be heavy in some spots across the Midwest, reducing visibilities on the roads to near or zero, temperatures are also dropping rapidly. The cold front is about to push through the Dallas-Fort Worth area. There is a 20-degree difference between a 40-mile distance (like from Denton to Dallas).

Stay bundled up and keep kids and the elderly secure and warm. They are the most vulnerable to the cold.

Snow squalls passing over eastern Wisconsin and northwestern Illinois are causing visibility to be reduced to zero. Conditions along the roads east of Green Bay, Wis., like I-42 and 43 toward Escanaba are extremely dangerous.

Davenport, Iowa is about to receive a band of heavy, copious snow that will obstruct visibility. Areas near I-35 from Kansas City southwest toward Wichita, Kansas are also receiving heavy snow. This band is moving toward Joplin, Missouri in the next couple of hours. Drivers on nearby roads should avoid being caught driving. Conditions will quickly deteriorate.

Weather maps are lit up, and it's not because it's the holidays. Lots of winter weather alerts are in effect across two-thirds of the U.S.

First blizzard warnings are in effect across parts of the Dakotas eastward toward the Great Lakes area. Heavy snow combined with strong winds will reduce visibility to zero.

At this time the arctic front has pushed over much of the Central Plains. Areas to the southeast from Chicago to North Texas are on the warm sector of the system, but the front is on the verge of passing through this morning, we will be monitoring how much, and how fast, the temperatures will be falling across the Lone Star State.

We are closely monitoring this winter storm and all of its impacts. Check back every hour for an update.