See The Midwest Blizzard Live On-Air

From West Virginia to Alabama, about 60 million people are starting Monday under a severe weather threat. Storms in the East are bringing damaging winds and possible tornadoes. We're already seeing reports of downed trees and power lines, and damage to homes and other buildings.

This all comes after an unusual patchwork of severe weather across the U.S. threw out everything but the kitchen sink.

(MORE: Read Yesterday's Coverage As It Unfolded)

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In the Midwest, roads became impassable as a winter storm brought heavy, record-setting snow to parts of Wisconsin and Michigan. Later, a tornado threat moved into much of the Ohio River Valley and Southeast, as the risk of severe storms lingered into the evening.

A major heat wave pushed temperatures near 100 degrees in the Southwest. Across the Plains, powerful winds with gusts up to 70 mph fueled extremely dangerous fire conditions that turned deadly in Nebraska. And in Hawaii, an atmospheric river dumped heavy rain, causing flooding and leaving thousands without power.

Severe Weather

More than 545,000 customers were without power across the country Monday morning, according to PowerOutage.us. The bulk of the outages were in Michigan, where more than 124,000 homes and businesses did not have electricity. This social media post from a storm chaser in Michigan shows you why.

There have been more than 300 reports of severe weather since Sunday afternoon, and weather.com senior meteorologist Jonathan Erdman says most of those reports involve wind damage.

(MORE: Your Complete Severe Weather Forecast)

We're seeing a flurry of reports from neighborhoods and communities up and down the East Coast of downed trees and powerlines cutting off roads. Fire departments, sheriff's deputies and utility crews have been out all night and early Monday inspected damage and working to clear roads.

A church and nearby homes in Summersville, Missouri, were significantly damaged, with reports that the foundation of the church was lifted off the ground. In a Facebook post, a resident shared dramatic photos of the damage to one home.

Officials said schools in Raleigh and Chapel Hill, North Carolina, would be closed Monday, and the state's governor urged residents to enable emergency alerts on their phones ahead of expected wind gusts of 74 mph.

In Atlanta, public schools switched to remote learning as tornado watches were issued across the metro area. Other school districts outside of the city have delayed the start of classes by several hours. Washington, D.C., schools are closing two hours early.

More than 2,300 flights were canceled nationwide, and delays were topping 7,300 early Monday morning, according to FlightAware.com. The FAA grounded flights at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport until 11:30 a.m. EDT due to the risk of tornadoes. There is also a ground delay at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston due to winds.

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport shared video of the astonishingly long lines of travelers waiting to get through security before daybreak Monday.

Winter Storm

The snow totals in the Midwest are simply staggering. Leading the record totals is Spalding, Michigan, which has been socked in by 26 inches of snow. Wausau, Wisconsin, set a single-day record, with 23.4 inches reported Sunday.

The blizzard conditions and deep snow trapped people on highways through the region. Southbound lanes of Interstate 35 were shut down Sunday afternoon in southeast Minnesota. The state DOT said no travel is advised on state highways in the area.

In Wisconsin, dozens of vehicles were stuck on I-94 near Osseo on Sunday.

(MORE: Traveling Today? Check Our Travel Tracker)

In Michigan, the Coast Guard and Mackinac Island firefighters pulled off a daring rescue in whiteout conditions after a man on a snowmobile went out onto the ice of the Straits and got lost.

Mackinac Island Fire Chief Jason St. Onge and five other firefighters went out on the ice, and the chief said: "It was extremely slow going as drifting snow was waist deep and the ice jagged and difficult to climb over."

A Coast Guard cutter was able to spot the man who had reached open water, and the crew picked him up and got him on board their vessel.

It took firefighters 40 minutes to walk 2,000 feet back to shore in the arduous conditions. In a press release, the Fire Department said, "The ice is no joke, not an inland lake or a mill pond, conditions can and do change by the minute. Not one entity endorses the ice nor is anyone in charge of its safety or security. Each and every trip is CROSS AT YOUR OWN RISK. In this particular case it was cross at the First Responders risk."

This is a developing story; check back frequently for updates.