Tens of millions of residents along the East Coast are bracing for several inches of snow Sunday followed by dangerously cold temperatures that will take hold in much of the country from the Northern Plains to the tip of Maine.

A polar vortex is slated to sweep most of the continental US bringing winter storm warnings and a hazardous freeze to millions.

Preparations are underway as an arctic blast dives into the nation's interior and southern regions and pushes a snowstorm into the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast that will be followed by lethal cold.