Deep freeze spreading across much of US

The US National Weather Service has warned that a deep freeze is spreading across much of the United States this weekend.

Nearly 140 million Americans will feel temperatures of zero or lower by Wednesday, experts say. Temperatures in sections of the north-central states could fall to negative 50 to negative 60 Fahrenheit on Sunday night.

The frigid air is coming from the North Pole and will be intense and mobile, Ryan Maue, a meteorologist for Weather Bell, told the Associated Press. “All the ingredients are there for a near-record or historic cold outbreak,” Maue said “If you’re under 40, you’ve not seen this stuff before.”

Authorities advised residents to stay indoors and store food.

A state of emergency has already been declared in New York and New Jersey. “The snow may have stopped, but we are not out of the woods,” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Friday night.

The NWS said snow is expected to begin falling throughout the Midwest on Sunday, and could accumulate up to 10 inches in some areas.

The snow is also expected to reach as far south as Tennessee and Alabama and icy conditions should even be expected in the Deep South Sunday, according to weather experts.

Atlanta’s high temperature on Tuesday is forecast to be in the mid-20s, while the city’s January average high is usually in the mid-50s, according to Weatherbase.com.

The wind child levels will be so low that, “a person not properly dressed could die easily in those conditions,” NWS meteorologist Scott Truett warned.

Winter weather in the past week has claimed at least 16 lives across the country.