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.

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.

BOSTON (AP) — Residents across the country from the Northern Plains to the tip of Maine are bracing for dangerously low temperatures as tens of millions of residents along the East Coast contend with a thick blanket of snow — and more snowfall in the forecast.

The heaviest snow was expected to fall in New Jersey between 4 and 9 p.m. Sunday, with totals of up to 8 inches.

Heavy snow is expected to blanket large portions of the Eastern U.S. while much of the country will endure dangerously cold temperatures in the coming days