The Northeast is bracing for the coldest weekend of the winter with snow, freezing fast for some

A bitterly cold weekend awaits more than 100 million people in the northeastern part of the nation as arctic air blasts south straight from eastern Canada. The initial blast of cold air will bring a flurry of snow to some areas, followed by a quick freeze and strong, gusty winds.

The air will have little chance to warm on its journey south as the landscape is mostly frozen with vast areas of deep snow and frozen lakes and rivers. If, when the stats are tallied, this weekend doesn’t officially bring the coldest temperatures of the winter, it will feel that way in many cases for a while.

Enough wintry conditions will develop to cause flight delays and cancellations, as well as slick travel on area highways this weekend from the Midwest to the Northeast.

In most cases, the hardest part of the weekend will be the first half, when most of the snow and wind will occur.

Snow will pivot from the Great Lakes to the Appalachians during Friday. Some areas around the Great Lakes and the west-facing slopes of the Appalachian Mountains will pick up 1-3 inches of snow from the arrangement. The first part of the snowfall may occur with temperatures near or even above freezing. Then, as arctic air moves in, the snow will become powderier and wetter, and the slushy areas will freeze quickly.

Snowfall will tend to decrease east of the Appalachians in the mid-Atlantic region. For some, it may just be a few snow showers that bring little or no accumulation, then it becomes dry, windy and very cold.

However, in parts of New England, as a storm develops along the Arctic front near the Atlantic, an area of ​​increased snow may form, producing an inch or more on Saturday.

“There may be a narrow area of ​​4-5 inches of snow across southern and central New England on Saturday,” AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Bernie Rayno said.

Timeline of weather events in different cities

In Detroit, the arctic front will bring snow flurries late Thursday through midday Friday. After a morning high of 35°F, temperatures will drop into the 20s and into the twenties, causing the 1-3 inches of snow and slush to freeze, making for a difficult commute on Friday. Temperatures will reach the threshold of just above freezing Saturday morning and only struggle into the mid-teens Saturday afternoon before dropping to near freezing Saturday evening.

Further east, snow will begin in New York later Friday afternoon or Friday evening and continue at varying rates into the early hours of Saturday morning. Temperatures will hover in the 20s on Friday night, only to drop into the twenties during the day on Saturday, despite the return of the sun. Those heading to Manhattan to see a show on Saturday should be prepared for the winter chill. Temperatures will drop into the single digits Saturday night and again Sunday evening. New York’s lowest temperature so far this winter has been 9 degrees several times in the last week of January. Temperatures are forecast to drop lower than Sunday and Monday morning.

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In Boston, the snow will hold until late Friday night, but Saturday is likely to be quite wintry, with varying amounts of snow and temperatures dropping into the teens in the afternoon and then near freezing Saturday night. After temperatures struggle into the teens on Sunday, temperatures will drop back into the single digits Sunday evening. Temperatures are expected to drop below a season low of 5 F Sunday morning.

Wicked winds, dangerously low AccuWeather RealFeel® temperatures

“Not only will air temperatures drop as the arctic front passes, but north-northwest winds gusting 35-55 mph will also occur, causing AccuWeather RealFeel Temperatures™ to drop to dangerously low levels,” AccuWeather Meteorologist Brandon Buckingham said. Actual temperatures will drop into the single digits or below freezing across much of the Northeast.

Those who are not properly dressed risk frostbite and hypothermia. Skiers, boarders and motorcyclists should be prepared for extreme conditions.

In most cases, Sunday will end up being the less severe of the two weekend days, with winds forecast to ease in the afternoon. But temperatures will start the day at frigid levels. Only the February sun will give you some comfort during lunch and afternoon rides in the car.

In the Northeast, temperatures will drop Sunday evening where skies remain clear.

Tens of thousands of people were still without power in Tennessee and Mississippi Wednesday morning following a devastating ice storm nearly two weeks ago. Fortunately, this arctic blast won’t penetrate deep into the southern states and should stay north of the Florida Peninsula, which has recently been hit hard by damaging freezes.

On Sunday, as warmer air begins to build over the northern Rockies and Plains, a patch of snow and freezing rain or sleet is likely to develop over the Great Lakes region and slide southeast through parts of the Ohio Valley and central Appalachia.

The same slick travel zone may reach part of the mid-Atlantic region Sunday night into Monday morning.

For those battling the unrelenting cold and bracing for big heating bills, there’s some good news on the way for weeks two and three of February.

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