miles wide, battered the alaskan island. with near 100-mile-per-hour winds and waves at least 50 feet high. the crews on the fishing boats from discovery's "deadliest catch" scrambling to stay safe. >> we don't need to get anybody hurt. >> reporter: nuri is one of the most powerful storms ever recorded. the size and strength helped push the jet stream very far to the north. what comes up, must come down. a big dip in the jet stream over the eastern two-thirds of the u.s. which opens the gates for the frigid air to plunge southward. those unseasonable temperatures will stretch from the midwest to the gulf coast. that winter weather here much sooner than any of us would like. this polar plunge is expected to linger across much of the country. >> our coverage continues at accu-weather where meteorologist