Coldest air of season so far to blast Northeast with gusty winds
Another blast of cold air will affect millions this weekend and could freeze a bit of the holiday spirit as well as create frigid conditions for those heading to college football games.
Three of the four college football playoff games on Dec. 21 will be below freezing.
Those with outdoor plans from late this week to this weekend in the Midwest and Northeast should be prepared to bundle up as a blast of frigid air accompanied by gusty winds chills the regions, AccuWeather meteorologists warn.
"The air will be cold for much of the Midwest but probably a few degrees higher than what has already occurred in recent weeks," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Bob Larson said.
It will still be formidably cold in the Midwest, with temperatures about 10 degrees below the historical average for a couple of days. Brisk to blustery conditions will accompany the cold air near the Great Lakes region.
For example, Chicago's high was in the teens on Dec. 12, and low temperatures around that date were in the single digits. The air coming in is likely to bring highs in the upuper-20s on Saturday and Sunday and lows in the teens on Friday night and Saturday night. Factoring in the wind and other conditions, AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures will dip into the single digits at times.
Conditions will not be much better in northwestern Indiana for the highly-anticipated football game between Indiana and Notre Dame on Friday night.
The cold air and wind will be more intense in the Northeast.
"In the Northeast—New England, the mid-Atlantic and parts of the central Appalachians and eastern Great Lakes region—this will likely be the coldest air of the season so far from late Friday to Sunday," Larson said.
From central Pennsylvania to southeast Texas, here’s a breakdown of how the weather may affect the biggest college football games in the country this week.
Instead of much of the air being warmed by the open waters of the Great Lakes like the last Arctic blasts that traveled through, this cold outbreak will be more direct because it will be forced southward from Quebec and eastern Ontario. This means there will be little warming that takes place.
"When combined with gusty winds in the wake of a strengthening Alberta clipper storm on Thursday, it will feel painful to be outdoors for a significant length of time if not properly dressed from the central Appalachians to the mid-Atlantic coast and New England from Friday to Saturday night," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Tom Kines said.
Fans heading to State College, Pennsylvania, for the game between SMU and Penn State should bundle up.
Around New York City, there have been multiple days in December where the high temperature has only been in the low to mid-30s. The lowest temperatures at night were in the mid-20s this past weekend. Factoring in the cold air coming this weekend, new low-temperature marks will be set for the season so far. Highs on Sunday and Monday are forecast to be in the mid-20s, with nighttime lows to range from the upper 10s to the low 20s around New York City.
Those heading to Manhattan for holiday activities and Broadway shows this weekend will encounter AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures no higher than the teens and, at times, in the single digits as the cold winds are funneled through the concrete canyons created by buildings.
Winds from the north and northwest will average 15-30 mph with gusts between 35 and 45 mph from Friday to Saturday in the Northeast.
In portions of the Southeast, the cold air coming in late this week and this weekend may also rival season lows so far.
The outbreak of cold air will set off more bands of lake-effect snow from Friday to this weekend. Shifting winds may bring accumulating snow to some areas that have avoided much lake-effect thus far.
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