An arctic air mass sprawling across the eastern, central and parts of the western U.S. on Monday will channel temperatures 20-30 degrees below already historically cold January averages and was poised to slam parts of the South with a disruptive winter storm.

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,