Dangerous ice was expected to hit the Carolinas, and up to a foot of snow was predicted from Tennessee to upstate New York and Vermont.

Governors across the South declared states of emergency and temperatures plunged below zero in parts of the Northeast as a strong winter storm that was expected to bring snow and freezing rain began surging through those regions Saturday night.

More than a quarter-inch of ice was expected in the Piedmont regions of North and South Carolina on Saturday night.

The storm system was expected to bring more than a foot of snow to the Appalachians and through upstate New York and southern and central Vermont beginning on Sunday.

Up to a foot of snow was expected to blanket the mountains of Tennessee and eastern Kentucky, as well North Carolina, West Virginia, eastern Ohio and western New York, said Ben Gelber, a meteorologist at WCMH-TV in Columbus, Ohio.

Boston, Philadelphia and New York City are expected to get one to four inches of snow before the precipitation turns into heavy rain Sunday night into Monday, he said.

Elsewhere in the South, meteorologists said, northeastern Georgia and the Carolinas were expected to bear the brunt of freezing precipitation on Saturday night into Sunday.

Up to a foot of snow was expected to fall in the area starting on Sunday — welcome news for residents and ice fishermen who have seen snow accumulations fall and winter temperatures rise in recent years, Mr.

Nashville was expected to get four to five inches of snow starting on Saturday, with higher snowfall amounts north of the city in what has already been a snowy winter, meteorologists said