Felecia Bowser with the National Weather Service Tallahassee said it is rare for the region to get this type of winter weather, and preparation for wintry weather looks much different than preparing for a hurricane.

Around 40 million people in the U.S. are under a winter storm warning from an unusual blast of severe winter weather.

Snow was falling in the Mid-Atlantic and New York City on Sunday. The coldest air in several years will descend across much of the country starting Monday, forecasters said.

The beaches even may see a wintry mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain, the weather service said, with the mainly snow expected.

On Monday at 2:03 p.m. the National Weather Service issued an updated winter storm warning valid from Tuesday 6 a.m. until Wednesday 6 a.m. for Lowndes, Montgomery, Macon, Bullock, Russell, Pike and Barbour counties.

Northwestern New Jersey counties have reported the highest snow totals of up to 7 inches from Sunday’s winter storm. Morris County had the top three totals reported to the National Weather Service with Kinnelon topping the list at 7 inches.

“North winds 25 to 30 knots with gusts up to 45 knots. Seas 7 to 10 feet, occasionally to 13 feet,” the NWS marine forecast from Fernandina Beach south to St. Augustine said. “Intracoastal waters very rough. Showers. Freezing rain after midnight.”

The NWS has issued storm and extreme cold warnings this weekend as powerful Arctic winds plunge temperatures nationwide.

BOSTON (AP) — Residents across the country from the Northern Plains to the tip of Maine are bracing for dangerously low temperatures while the East Coast contends with a thick blanket of snow and the South prepares for a rare winter storm expected to disrupt travel from late Monday into Wednesday.

The Sunshine State will feel a little less tropical than it usually does this week as arctic air reaches the Southern United States, including Florida, bringing with it frigid temperatures and the potential for snow,

MLK Monday will be a dry and mostly sunny day, starting very cold in the 20s, then working up to the mid 40s.LAST MINUTE PREPSThis is a good time to finish those snow preparations.WINTER STORM WARNINGThe entire southern half of Louisiana will be under a Winter Storm Warning from midnight tonight through midnight Wednesday for the possibility of accumulating snow.