Polar vortex has much of US preparing for life-threatening cold

A dangerous and potentially life-threatening stretch of cold weather has much of the U.S. on alert as a polar vortex invades the nation and sends temperatures tumbling to levels that haven’t been experienced in years.

A dangerous and potentially life-threatening stretch of cold weather has much of the U.S. on alert as a lobe of the polar vortex invades the nation and sends temperatures tumbling to levels not seen in years.

It’s been a somewhat mild winter so far, but things have certainly changed as winter weather makes its presence known across the Lower 48 states.

HOW TO WATCH FOX WEATHER

A rare winter storm is getting set to slam the Gulf Coast and South, with cities from Texas to Florida under a Winter Storm Watch. 

In the East, tens of millions of people along the heavily traveled Interstate 95 corridor from Washington to Boston are also preparing for heavy snow.

The National Weather Service said temperatures have already plummeted across the Rockies, Plains and Mississippi Valley, and the East Coast is next to feel the freeze.

President-elect Donald Trump will be sworn in for his second term on Monday in Washington, but due to the temperatures, the ceremony will be held inside the United States Capitol Rotunda.

DOWNLOAD THE FREE FOX WEATHER APP

---

 

These temperatures are undoubtedly going to be the coldest of winter so far and, in many cases, the coldest in years. Combined with a brutal wind chill, it will only add to the extreme danger associated with the cold.

In the Midwest, the wind chill could make it feel like -47 degrees in International Falls, Minnesota, on Tuesday morning. In Chicago, the Windy City, it will feel like -23 degrees.

But those brutal wind chills aren’t limited to the Midwest and Plains.

Montgomery, Alabama, which is also on alert for the rare winter storm set to slam the South, will also feel wind chills dropping into the teens by Tuesday morning.

7 WAYS TO PREVENT FROZEN WATER PIPES IN BITTERLY COLD TEMPERATURES

This graphic shows cold weather alerts in effect through Tuesday and Wednesday.

(FOX Weather)

More than 30 states are now on alert because of the cold, including Extreme Cold Warnings for wind chill values as low as -50 degrees. Cold Weather Advisories and Extreme Cold Watches are also in effect.

Forecast high temperatures range from below zero to the single digits in the northern Plains and Upper Midwest to the single digits and teens across the Rockies, central Plains and Midwest.

WIND CHILL, OTHER COLD WEATHER ALERTS TO GET NEW NAMES THIS WINTER FROM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE

---

 

Forecast high temperatures in the teens and 20s are expected in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic, while Texas and the Southeast will see temperatures in the 20s and 30s.

Dangerously low wind chills from 30-55 degrees below zero are likely on Sunday and Monday in the Rockies, Upper Midwest and northern Plains, while below-zero wind chills are expected to reach as far south as Oklahoma and the Tennessee and Ohio valleys Sunday night.