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.

A rare and potentially historic winter storm is bringing heavy snow to Texas and the Gulf Coast while most of the country is facing dangerously cold temperatures from an arctic blast that arrived over the weekend.

A major winter storm prompts blizzard warnings, dumping heavy snow and sleet in a region where even flurries are a rare sight.