WEATHER BLOG: Bitter Cold Air Arrives
As expected, the latest blast of bitterly cold air has arrived on schedule. This arctic outbreak is being accentuated by a stiff northwest wind, which has produced gusts as high as 48 mph in the Northeast and the mid-Atlantic states.
Temperatures will start off in the single digits and lower teens in most places, and there'll be very little recovery this afternoon... With winds expected to gradually subside, it will still feel like its 10 to 20 degrees below zero for a while this morning and close to zero this afternoon.
It goes without saying that folks will need to "bundle up in several layers" before heading out the door this morning... And that warm hat, scarf and gloves will still be appropriate this afternoon.
There'll be a tendency for temperatures to 'flat line' tonight as some clouds begin to spread out across the region... But still, most of these will be in the single digits in some of those typically colder spots and the teens in many larger cities and towns.
We've been stressing over the past few days how this major push of cold air will be attacking us in 'two waves': One right now, and the other during the second half of the weekend.
There's going to be another "clipper" sliding into the region tomorrow, and that will become a 'key weather-maker' in its own right, bringing a swath of snow to the mid-Atlantic region in the afternoon before it intensifies rapidly off the coast of southern New England tomorrow night and early Sunday...
It has been a widely held belief from the start that the heaviest snow, and the 'blizzard-like' conditions would only impact eastern Massachusetts and Maine... However, there's now also a concern about just how tight the gradient will be between areas which only pick up "about an inch" of snow later tomorrow and tomorrow night and those which will get as much as 5 or 6 inches.
That very tricky zone to forecast appears as if it will be setting up across the Greater New York City Metro Area, with Long Island and Connecticut obtaining the higher snowfall amounts because of the closer proximity to the deepening wave of low pressure.
Yes, its quite windy out there early this morning.
But some of the wind gusts late Saturday night and Sunday, especially along the immediate coastline, will probably be even stronger.
They may be as high as 50 or 55 mph.
This would result in areas of blowing snow, and it could be enough to reduce the visibility and bring 'almost blizzard-like' conditions to parts of Long Island and the Jersey Shore early Sunday.
For the vast majority of the area, Sunday will be 'downright brutal', with daytime temperatures between 10 and 15 degrees.
The wind will make it "feel like" its between 10 and 20 below.
Another complex storm system is probably going to impact the region later on Tuesday or Tuesday night into Wednesday.
Have a good weekend!
