Brutally cold weather blasts the US as Arctic air ushers in 2018
Brutally cold weather will be refreshed later this week as another bout of arctic air dives through the United States.
Gusty winds and frigid air will combine to make for a brutally cold day in the Northeast on Wednesday, with snow-chasers skiing in New England facing dangerous RealFeel® Temperatures near minus 30 F.
An expansive portion of the northeastern U.S. will face conditions cold enough to cause frostbite through Thursday morning, and it will be imperative for anyone spending time outdoors to cover as much skin as possible.
Though this arctic air is expected to ease later in the week, any relief will be minimal and short-lived.
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Temperatures in Minneapolis are expected to rebound into the low teens at midweek after reaching only 1 F on Dec. 26. Highs are forecast to fail to exceed zero F again over the weekend.
“Bitterly cold arctic air will settle in across a large swath of the U.S. as we turn the calendar from 2017 to 2018,” said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dan Pydynowski.
“People will really need to bundle up if they are heading out Sunday night for New Year's Eve celebrations in places like Chicago, for example, where the high will be 15 F on Sunday, around 15 degrees below normal,” he warned.
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The frigid blast will make its way from the northern Plains to the eastern and southern U.S. Sunday into Monday.
Cities as far south as Nashville and Atlanta will experience temperatures over 20 degrees Fahrenheit below average by the end of the weekend, where high temperatures are expected to remain below 30 F.
Frigid weather is expected to reach the Big Apple just in time to chill those visiting Times Square, though the record low of minus 4 F from 1918 will not be challenged.
“It could be near 15 F in Times Square when the ball drops on Sunday night in New York City, with AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures in the single digits,” Pydynowski said.
At that level the temperature will be within the top five lowest since records have been maintained in the 1800s. In 1976 and 1996, the temperature at midnight on New Year's Eve was 15.
These conditions will be dangerously cold, especially for those spending many hours outdoors overnight across the majority of the eastern two-thirds of the country.
Consuming alcoholic beverages increases the risk of hypothermia, if not alert and properly dressed, according to the Mayo Clinic.
In Atlanta and Chicago, it will be the coldest New Year's Eve since welcoming in 2010, when the temperature bottomed out at 29 and 5 F, respectively.
“People will need to bundle up with all their winter gear in order to stay warm,” said Pydynowski.
