A major winter storm is forecast to sweep through parts of the Mid-Atlantic States and the Northeast starting early Wednesday, sending heavy snow, freezing rain and strong winds surging through the region into Thursday. The storm, a nor’easter, is expected to stretch from North Carolina up through Virginia before advancing north, blanketing some areas with up to two feet of snow, the National Weather Service said. The storm will unleash a hazardous mix of rain and then heavy snow starting Wednesday, kicking off in western North Carolina and southwest Virginia, where it will let loose sheets of freezing rain, the Weather Service predicted. 