A polar vortex is expected to bring snow and ice to 26 states and D.C., threatening travel with blizzard conditions and record-low temperatures.

Several states across the U.S. are under alert as the new storm system approaches. Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Missouri have severe weather alerts in effect through Friday, January 10. Meanwhile, Tennessee, northern Alabama, and parts of Indiana and Kentucky will remain under warnings through Saturday.

Nearly two-dozen states were under winter weather warnings from the National Weather Service as of early Monday.

Parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas began to see snowfall on Thursday as Southern states stretching to the Carolinas brace for the storm to reach them on Friday.

Temperatures are forecast to plummet below average for much of the nation, with the most severe cold gripping areas east of the Rocky Mountains and reaching as far south as the Gulf Coast and Florida. Dangerous wind chills are likely across many areas of the Southeast, too.

Six states are under winter storm warnings, including New York, Vermont, Maryland, West Virginia, Colorado and Wyoming.

The developing storm system is forecast to bring heavy snow, crippling ice and severe weather across the country through the next three days.

Residents in the southern states are advised to stay alert, monitor local weather updates, and be prepared to take immediate shelter if warnings are issued.

With one storm safely out to sea, attention turns to the next system that's forecast to spread a wintry mess from Texas to the East Coast this week.

ATLANTA — Four passengers were injured after a Delta Air Lines plane bound for Minneapolis aborted takeoff on Friday morning. Passengers left the plane using emergency inflatable slides and were taken to an airport concourse. That is according to a statement by officials at the Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

LOS ANGELES -- With levels of sooty air pollution far too high across swaths of the Los Angeles area, Dana Benton is sleeping with a mask on, even with her air purifier running.

Weather conditions determine how much a wildfire grows, according to National Geographic. Wind, high temperatures and little rainfall can all leave trees and limbs dried out and primed to fuel a fire. Topography plays a big part, as well, as flames burn uphill faster than they burn downhill.