An Arctic airmass will continue to be centered over the eastern third of the country until later this week. Frostbite or hypothermia could happen in as little as 10 to 20 minutes for some eastern U.S. spots in an airmass such as this.
A strong area of Canadian high pressure system will slowly shift eastward as we go through the workweek. Frigid temperatures in some spots will be 10 to nearly 40 degrees below normal through Thursday.
Numerous Cold Weather Advisories and even a few Extreme Cold Warnings are currently in effect from much of New Mexico and Texas east and north to the Great Lakes and New England and then southward into Central Florida and the entire Gulf of Mexico coast.
Some cities forecasted to be in these cold advisories and warnings include Orlando, Tampa, and Jacksonville, Fla., the Dallas-Forth Worth metroplex, Houston, New Orleans and Baton Rouge, La., Montgomery, Ala., Atlanta, Nashville, Chicago, Green Bay and Milwaukee, Wis., Detroit, Columbia, S.C, Charlotte, N.C., Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, Cleveland and Cincinnati, and Buffalo, N.Y.
Today’s high temperatures will struggle to get into the teens in a large swath of the northern tier of the country from northern Minnesota into the Great Lakes, Upstate New York and northern New England. A few spots in this huge territory will remain in the single digits and will see wind chills well below zero throughout the day. High temperatures will peak in the 20s for southern New England, the central Appalachians, the Mid-Atlantic, the Ohio Valley and portions of the Midwest and Northern Plains. Thirties and 40s will cover a large portion of the country from the Central Plains, the Deep South and the Carolinas. Fifties and 60s will be experienced for Texas and central and southern Florida.
Even though the Canadian area of high pressure finally starts to show signs of losing its icy grip on the East tonight, a large area of snowpack and light winds will keep temperatures dangerously cold tonight. Morning lows will dip into the single digits below zero to single digits above zero in New England as well as much of New York and Pennsylvania as well as the Northern Plains to the teens and 20s from the Mid-Atlantic southward to Deep South, Carolina and Gulf Coast regions and northwestward into interior Texas and the Southern and Central Plains. Highs on Thursday afternoon will remain below average, with teens, 20s, and 30s in New England giving way to 40s and lower 50s along the Gulf Coast, the Deep South and the Central Plains.
Despite this warming trend, afternoon highs on Thursday will be nearly 15 to 25 degrees below normal in certain instances, especially along the Gulf Coast and eastern parts of the Carolinas as well as the southern half of Georgia.
Cold temperatures and wind chills to the levels can lead to frostbite in as little as 10 to 20 minutes, particularly on exposed skin. Try to limit outdoor activity during this cold snap, check on the elderly and pets, and others who might not have access to warming centers.