75% of the US will suffer below-freezing temps this week

Absurdly cold weather is about to grip much of the US, trapping millions of Americans in sub-zero temperatures and bringing "dangerous to impossible travel conditions."

Some states could suffer the coldest air in a generation, the National Weather Service said. About 220 million people -- or 75% of the continental US population -- will endure below-freezing temperatures this week.

The wicked cold has already turned deadly in Iowa, where a 13-year-old boy was found dead, Marshalltown police said.