On Monday, the wintry weather had made many roads treacherous, forced school closures and caused widespread power outages.

The United States continued to freeze through a polar vortex that brought rare cold to the southern United States and chances of freezing weather through much of the country.

Much of the U.S. is being blasted by ice, snow and wind, as the polar vortex that dipped south over the weekend is keeping an area stretching from the Rocky

Much of the U.S. is being blasted by ice, snow and wind, as the polar vortex that dipped south over the weekend is maintaining its frigid grip.

However, a deep freeze, thanks to the polar vortex dipping down from Siberia, is about to bring even harsher, frigid temperatures to nearly 300 million Americans starting this weekend.The polar vortex is a large area of cold air and low pressure that normally spins over the North and South Poles.

Extreme cold is set to grip much of the country starting this weekend with the return of the polar vortex. Some regions are expected to see temperatures in the negatives early next week. TODAY’s Al Roker tracks the frigid forecast.

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.