The extreme weather is being caused by the polar vortex, an area of cold air that circulates around the Arctic.

Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, Kansas, Arkansas, and Missouri have declared states of emergency as the storm brings dangerous travel conditions.

A major winter blast of snow, ice, wind and plunging temperatures in the U.S. stirred dangerous travel conditions from central and southern states all the way to the East Coast early Monday, prompting schools and government offices in several states to close.