An Arctic blast is set to hit most of U.S. this week

The U.S. is in for an Arctic blast, with record-breaking low temperatures normally found only in the depths of winter – in the far north – according to the government’s weather gurus.

“Temperatures that are well below normal will plunge into much of the nation beginning in the Northern Plains, and pushing all the way into Florida by mid-week,” the National Weather Service tweeted Sunday, along with a GIF map showing the fluctuating readings.

Arctic-style weather conditions are expected to dip even as far south as Mexico, the National Weather Service said in a forecast.

“The arctic front is expected to dive well into Mexico and to move through Florida,” the NWS said. “Wintry conditions, gusty winds, and much colder temperatures will impact the eastern 2/3rds of the U.S.”

Dubbing it an “Arctic intrusion,” the NWS said the second one in less than a week is already landing in the Plains and Midwest, accompanied by record monthly pressure records for the month.

“By Monday evening, the front is expected to reach northern Mexico and the Appalachians with an abrupt drop in temperatures behind it, leading to some impressive 24-hour temperature changes on the order of 30 to 40+ degrees possible!” the NWS said in its forecast. “It will feel more like the middle of January for the beginning of the week, with numerous record low temperatures likely from Texas to the Great Lakes.”

Montana and the western Dakotas will see snow, as will northern New England. Michigan will get walloped with lake-effect snow, with winter storm watches in effect for some of those areas, the NWS said.

Monday’s temperatures could be wedged in the teens and 20s in the Midwest and Great Lakes area, with the coldest Veterans Day ever in Chicago and Minneapolis, USA Today reported.

Elsewhere will be the rain. Temperatures will be “mild” on Monday in the Southeastern U.S. through southern New England.

“Locations west of the Rockies should be spared from this Arctic airmass, with near to above-average temperatures expected from the Desert Southwest to the Pacific Northwest,” the weather service said.

That will reverse yet again between Tuesday and Thursday, the NWS said, with 148 temperature records set to be broken later in the week, USA Today reported.