A powerful surge of arctic air from Canada will descend on the Central and Eastern United States this week, delivering record-breaking cold and dangerously low wind chills, forecasters said.

A disruptive winter storm is also forecast to bring snow and ice from the Central Plains to the East Coast.

The National Weather Service warned that this “widespread extreme cold threat” would send temperatures plunging 30 degrees below average near the Canadian border for the next couple of mornings. Numerous daily temperature records were likely to be broken, with below-zero high temperatures from Montana and the Dakotas to the upper Midwest and sections of the Central Plains. Freezing conditions may reach even the Gulf Coast by Thursday morning.

Extreme cold warnings and cold-weather advisories were issued for areas across the northern Plains and upper Midwest down to central Texas, potentially affecting millions of people.

The Weather Prediction Center warned of dangerous wind chill temperatures capable of causing frostbite within minutes. In the Northern Plains, wind chills between minus 30 and minus 60 degrees Fahrenheit could persist for several days.