As usual for this time of year, very cold air will begin moving from the Midwest to the Northeast and even the South into the coming week. If you plan on spending any time outdoors, be sure that you are bundled up in warm clothing because it will be extremely cold. Combining the wind chill and the actual temperature, it will feel as though it is 15-30 degrees lower than the actual temperature.
“RealFeel” temperatures, as AccuWeather calls them, will plunge below the zero mark at times in the Northeast as well as the Midwest. The weather that they will experience can be life-threatening if you aren’t prepared, because frostbite and hypothermia can occur quite easily in favorable conditions such as these. The cold weather will spend many house at dangerously low levels.
Also, if you reside in the Southern states, you may want to begin insulating your pipes. The temperatures will definitely be cold enough to begin freezing pipes. Insulate any plumbing fixtures that may be exposed to the harsh cold, or shut off the water and drain these areas to avoid any costly damage altogether.
Even though this pattern will likely send some colder than normal air into the Deep South and Florida, it won’t get cold enough to cause a damaging event such as a freeze or frost, in central or south Florida.
According to a Chief Meteorologist with the AccuWeather team, once the temperatures reach below freezing in NYC on Monday night, they probably won’t return to above freezing until later this weekend. Also, in Chicago it probably won’t be until later next week before the temperatures climb back above the freezing level.
The first wave of arctic air sent the temperatures down quickly in the northern Plains as well as the Upper Midwest. This occurred on Monday, and the temperatures also fell during midday on the coast in the Northeast. A second blast of air will move into the Midwestern states on Tuesday following a snow storm, also known as an Alberta Clipper, which spread light to moderate snow from the northern Plains to the Mid-Atlantic coastline. Any snow that does fall will probably melt, and then freeze as the temperatures continue to plummet. This means that icy conditions are more than possible for the roadways on Tuesday morning.
Cold air that will follow this Alberta Clipper will bring the lowest temperatures that this region has seen since last winter as we move into Wednesday and Thursday. The temperatures are going to just barely climb above zero in Minneapolis and Chicago on Wednesday, where the night time temperatures will drop below zero on multiple nights during the middle and last portion of the week.
The record for cold temperatures will definitely be challenged in parts of the Midwest as we move into Wednesday night, as the temperatures are expected to fall into the single digits in the Central Appalachians. Boston and New England will also feel this arctic air as it moves into that area on Thursday morning.
In Washington D.C, the highs will only be in the 20’s even though the sun will be out in full effect. For the second half of the week, the lows will continue to stay in the teens and 20s through the Southern states. Highs can range anywhere from the upper 30s to the lower 40s for areas like Jackson, MS, Birmingham, AL, Atlanta, GA, and Charlotte, NC.
This pattern will begin to move out as we move through the middle of the month, at least for for the central and eastern states. This warm-up may only last a couple of days or it could last a week or more, but it is still undeterminable at this time.
