Arctic air charges toward the Deep South

Temperatures fell to nearly forty degrees below zero in portions of Minnesota Wednesday morning as a brutally cold Arctic air mass rushes south through the lower forty-eight. 

Ahead of the strong Arctic cold front, snow will break out through the Ohio Valley and into the Northeast today and Thursday, with north winds bringing some of the coldest air in years to much of the eastern United States.

By Thursday evening, the frigid air will plunge into the Deep South with falling temperatures expected by the middle to late afternoon hours.  Backyard thermometers will be showing teens and even single digits across much of Dixie by Friday morning.

High temperatures will struggle to reach freezing in many southern cities on Friday, with forties showing up as far south as Florida.