100 million under Wind Chill alerts as arctic blast reloads for second round
The coldest day overall will be Saturday, the FOX Forecast Center said, as around 75% of the country is forecast to wake up with below-freezing temperatures and experience below-average temperatures all day long.
A renewed surge of arctic air is sweeping into the eastern U.S. on Saturday, leaving tens of millions in dangerously cold weather. While this surge of frigid air is not as cold as the previous arctic outbreak that produced numerous records across the Plains and Lower Mississippi Valley in the last week, this next surge will result in high temperatures 20 to 30 degrees colder than they were Thursday, the FOX Forecast Center said.
Morning sunrise over the city skyline and the steaming frigid waters of Lake Michigan at Montrose Beach on Jan. 16, 2024, in Chicago.
(Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service / Getty Images)
The recent cold weather has already caused dozens of deaths across the U.S. and affected Amtrak services, with over a dozen cancellations on Thursday. By Saturday morning, over 100 million Americans were under some type of wind chill alert stretching from Montana to northern Florida.
(FOX Weather)
Wind chills Saturday morning across the northern Plains and Midwest were well below zero, dropping to -16 in Minneapolis, -12 in St. Louis, -8 in Columbus, Ohio and -7 in Chicago. But single digit wind chills were spread into the East and South, as it felt like a chilly 4 degrees in New York City as the sun rose, while the wind chill was just 5 in Memphis and 6 in Atlanta.
Dallas residents found feels-like temperatures around 10, while it felt like a chilly 21 in Houston and even northern Florida felt below freezing.
Actual low temperatures this weekend will drop below freezing all the way to the Gulf Coast. Aided by a snowpack from this week's storm, locations across Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia may drop into the single digits.
Cities located along the Eastern Seaboard, including Raleigh in North Carolina, Richmond in Virginia and Columbia in South Carolina, are expected to experience a significant drop in temperature as well.
On Sunday morning, the temperature is expected to fall into the teens to lower 20s rivaling among the coldest recorded this winter season.
(FOX Weather)
The coldest day overall will be Saturday, the FOX Forecast Center said, as around 75% of the country is forecast to wake up with below-freezing temperatures and experience below-average temperatures all day long.
When will the cold snap end?
Temperatures will begin to moderate Sunday, and by Tuesday, the cold will be but a memory. The upcoming week will bring about a major shakeup in the predominant weather across the U.S., the FOX Forecast Center said. The days of arctic air and widespread snow will be gone, replaced by mild temperatures and widespread rain.
The driving features will be two strong areas of high pressure. The first will set up off the Southeast coast. Winds around the high will send warmer air from the Gulf of Mexico north through much of the eastern U.S.
END OF ARCTIC AIR ON HORIZON WITH JANUARY THAW DAYS AWAY
(FOX Weather)
The other will park itself well off the coast of California, with its winds pulling in mild Pacific air to much of the West.
High temperatures will rise 20-30 degrees compared to this week, bringing them back above average for this time of year.
As moisture streams north from the Gulf of Mexico, it will be met with a storm system that will swing out of the Four Corners, the FOX Forecast Center said. This will result in increasing rain that will quickly ramp up Monday and Tuesday for parts of the southern Plains and into the lower Mississippi Valley.
Repeated heavy rain could produce flash flooding, with the exact forecast details to be ironed out in the coming days. The rain will even be accompanied by rumbles of thunder – quite a change for places that have been well below freezing this week.
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