Another blast of winter weather is expected in parts of the U.S. in the coming days, including bone-chilling wind in the Northern Plains and unusual snow and ice in the Gulf Coast area.

The first heat wave of the season has arrived earlier than usual across much of the U.S. Southwest.

As the Houston area works to clean up and restore power to hundreds of thousands after deadly storms left at least seven people dead, it will do so amid a smog warning and rising Texas heat.

A winter storm that sent ski lift chairs swinging and closed mountain highways in the Sierra Nevada will push across the country and reach the Plains by mid-week, bringing significant rain and below-average temperatures.

A heat wave that's already lasted more than a week keeps on baking the US, Asia and even the Arctic.

"Typically, we just don’t have quite this much cold air in place that far south,” said Marc Chenard, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center. AdChenard said significant ice and up to 12 inches (30 centimeters) of snow were expected across parts of the southern Plains into Monday. Winter weather conditions are affecting large portions of the U.S., but it is rare for them to extend so far south, Chenard said. The airline said the storm was also affecting their flights across the region, with operations reduced and canceled at airports across Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. Utilities warned of the likelihood for additional power outages due to falling tree limbs.