At least three deaths were attributed to the cold as dangerous below-freezing temperatures with even colder wind chills settled in.

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.

The snow storm could hit over a dozen states through Wednesday, including Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas.