Snow and winds are likely to disrupt traffic, trigger flight cancellations, and cause headaches for people traveling to D.C. for Inauguration Day. Baby, it’s cold outside, and it’s about to get even colder for much of the United States.

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.

People living "basically anywhere from the Rockies eastward" will see extremely cold temperatures over the next several days, a meteorologist says.

Despite a cold start to the day, most of the U.S. will experience seasonably mild temperatures on Thursday. However, dangerous changes are on the way as a polar vortex tightens its grip on the nation as sends temperatures tumbling below freezing starting this weekend.

Americans were bracing Thursday for frigid temperatures that forecasters said could produce life-threatening conditions, with Donald Trump's inauguration expected to be the coldest in 40 years.

According to the National Weather Service, a polar vortex will impact most of the country this weekend, here is what you need to know.

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.