Residents in the most severely affected areas are being encouraged not to travel unless necessary and to watch for downed wires and work crews.

An ice storm passed through northern Michigan on Saturday, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of customers in the area. Make sure you're weather-aware and prepared for Sunday's severe storms around St. Louis. An intense system could bring major winds, sizable hail, and isolated tornadoes to the bi-state region.

This is easily the worst ice storm in modern times — in the last 50 years — and you have to go back all the way to 1922 to find something even remotely close,” said Harold Dippman, meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Gaylord.

Schools across Northern Michigan are shutting their doors for the remainder of the week as communities grapple with the lingering impacts of this week’s devastating ice storms.

Following a string of ice storms which tore through the northern Lower Peninsula over the weekend, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is expanding her initial state of emergency and deploying the Michigan National Guard to help clear roadways and areas overcome by debris.