Temps have already plummeted across Southeast Texas, but the main story will be the chance of significant snow and ice later this week.

Southeast Texas' outlook for next week's winter storm continues to worsen, with a growing likelihood of a deep freeze and substantial wintry precipitation, snow and sleet in the Houston area. Space City Weather's Eric Berger published an atypical afternoon report on Friday warning of an "increasingly likely" and drastic mix of hard freeze and snowy conditions expected in Southeast Texas early next week.

Most of the United States is being assailed with extreme winter weather this week as Arctic air blasts south from Canada, snow tracks up the Northeast coast and a potentially crippling winter storm takes aim at the South.