Below-average temperatures are predicted for much of the U.S. South, as National Weather Service (NWS) meteorologists warn of plummeting temperatures this weekend and early next week.

The dip in temperatures comes amid a disrupted polar vortex, a system of low pressure and cold air that typically circulates over Earth's poles. When stable, it contains frigid air far to the north. According to the NWS and several other meteorological outlets, a stretch and weakening of this system has allowed arctic air to spill southward.

"There is a massive area of air in northwestern Canada where temperatures are 20 to 30 degrees below zero Fahrenheit, and it is on its way southeastward into the U.S.," AccuWeather Chief On-Air Meteorologist Bernie Rayno said in a report. "This is the mother lode of co

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