Temperatures are expected to plummet over the weekend, bringing life-threatening conditions to large stretches of the United States. The polar vortex will send temperatures below freezing for much of the country starting this weekend and stretching into next week,

As the cold front moved southward Tuesday, it prompted a cold weather advisory for the Gulf Coast and pushed temperatures below freezing in El Paso, Texas.

A new blast of Arctic air sweeping from north to south will bring bone-chilling temperatures to millions of Americans this weekend and next week.

A blast of Arctic air is set to cover much of the United States with temperatures below freezing starting on Friday and into next week, impacting millions of Americans in nearly all of the contiguous states.

However, a deep freeze, thanks to the polar vortex dipping down from Siberia, is about to bring even harsher arctic blast to nearly 300 million Americans starting this weekend. Maps show where and when the cold front will arrive.

An arctic blast will send temperatures across the United States plummeting as bitterly cold air that originated in Siberia will arrive from Canada by week’s end, bringing with it dangerously cold wind chills for millions of Americans.