Americans traveling home could face powerful storm system moving across U.S.

Travel plans for motorists heading home for the holidays could get hammered by severe weather. Soaking rains are hitting the South as violent storms move east across the country.

The same system that brought rare snowfall to parts of the desert Southwest is finding new strength in areas from Dallas to Nashville and some people could see huge downpours and thunderstorms, reports CBS News correspondent Mark Strassmann.

It's a cold, wet morning in Atlanta, Georgia, which could be an issue for motorists getting an early start on their return travel. And there could be snow and more cold on the way for the Northeast.

In the Southwest, snow and freezing temperatures caused dangerous road conditions for many drivers and in New Mexico, cars moved slowly over snow-covered highways while snow plows worked to clear paths for traffic to follow.

Some parts of northern Arizona got more than 12 inches of snow. In North Texas, roads were frozen over with black ice. One truck was stranded on the highway median after a crash.

"I went to slow down and when I hit my brakes I kind of went sideways, hit the rail over there and spun all the way around," Caleb Hemby said.

In Oklahoma City, Interstate 40 was shut down after several trucks and cars lost control. In Omaha, Nebraska, ice chunks flowed down the Missouri River.

AAA estimates a record 99 million people in will travel over this holiday break -- 90 percent of them by car.

One piece of good news, though, is that gas prices are the lowest in five years.