several ates havdeclared state emergen. the tional wther serce sa it coulbe one othe worst wintestorms er to hit the reon. so are calng it thunderow -- that is when a storm dobson of snow to create lightning. reporter: there has not been a warm reaction to the weather forecast in washington. more than half a meter of snow could accumulate in a short time friday evening. the icy streets are making life, well, difficult. >> try to stay off the roads, and put the deicer down when i get home. reporter: it could very washington under more snow than it has seen in a century. everyone is preparing for the worst. winter routes are flying off the shelves. >> i bought my milk and bread. i went to get salt, but they ere all out. reporter: icy conditions have created chaos on the roads. electricity has gone out -- a serious problem for many. >> the thing that kills us in the winter is when trees break and fall onto power lines. reporter: the snowy conditions do not look set to let up anytime soon. with many forecast predicting a record