Amid a dangerous arctic blast over much of the U.S. this week, snow and ice may bring major travel disruptions and power outages in the South, forecasters warned.

Most of the United States is being assailed with extreme winter weather this week as Arctic air blasts south from Canada, snow tracks up the Northeast coast and a potentially crippling winter storm takes aim at the South.

The northern Gulf Coast is bracing for a blast of arctic air and a powerful winter storm early next week, bringing dangerously cold temperatures, icy conditions, and snow. The cold air will begin arriving late Sunday,

A polar vortex is slated to sweep most of the continental US bringing winter storm warnings and a hazardous freeze to millions.

The Arctic blast that is hitting the U.S. will sweep through parts of Texas with one forecaster predicting large snowfalls, and a map by Newsweek shows the hardest hit areas. A forecast shows "significant snow" across the southeast of the Lone Star State in the coming days,