An extremely dangerous, life threatening POLAR plunge is blowing through 19 states this weekend.
A bitterly cold air-mass will settle over much of the central and eastern U.S over the next several days. Well below normal temperatures and cold wind chills will be common.
In addition, heavy lake effect snow will be possible especially downwind of Lakes Erie and Ontario, where up to one foot of additional snow is forecast by Sunday morning.
...The coldest air mass of the season expected to impact Eastern U.S. this
weekend...
...Mild and dry weather expected for the western states...
The large-scale weather pattern over the continental U.S. through Sunday will be featured with a large scale ridge over the Inter-mountain West and a trough over the Eastern U.S. The amplified flow will result in mild and mainly dry weather west of the Rockies, and periods of rain for the Pacific Northwest. Warm weather is forecast to continue for the Desert Southwest and California with little in the way of precipitation.
Arctic air will be the big story across the northeastern U.S. through the weekend. An eddy of the polar vortex over Quebec, along with a reinforcing cold front, is expected to bring the coldest weather of this
winter season from the Great Lakes to New England. Wind chill warnings and lake effect snow warnings are in effect for these areas, with wind chill readings dropping below -30 degrees by Saturday night. Actual
temperatures will also be frigid with highs in the single digits and teens, and subzero lows across much of upstate New York and New England. It will also be quite cold from the Ohio Valley to the Mid-Atlantic
region.
100 year old record broken in some areas and over 100 million Americans are feeling the deep freeze today!