Coldest Arctic Outbreak in Midwest, South Since the 1990s; East to Shiver Also

By: By Jon Erdman and Nick Wiltgen

Published: January 5,2014

 

 

 

 

 

The words "January" and "cold" are forever linked in the U.S. No marketing campaigns needed. Everybody other than those in, say, the Florida Keys, Arizona, or Hawaii understands.
Low temperature records in one of the nation's coldest month in the U.S., particularly in the Midwest, are harder to crack. It's a pretty, uh, low bar, so to speak.
That said, one of coldest Arctic outbreaks in the past two decades is now plunging into the nation's Midwest, while also poised to sweep its shivering air into the East and South. Let's get to the bitter forecast details.

Monday/Tuesday: Coldest in Two Decades

Monday AM Lows

Monday Highs

The bitter cold spreads south and east and reaches its peak Monday and Tuesday from the Plains to the Mississippi and Ohio Valleys.
Morning lows Monday will be in the 20s and 30s below zero over much of eastern Montana, North Dakota, northeast South Dakota, Minnesota, northwest Illinois and Wisconsin. Relentless northwest winds of 15 to 35 mph (depending on location) will make this an exceptionally dangerous cold, sending wind chills into the minus 50s and even minus 60s across much of this region. At these levels, any exposed skin can suffer frostbite in as little as 5 minutes!
(MORE: Wind Chill Chart/Frostbite Danger)
Subzero cold will plunge as far south as the Ozarks and Ohio Valley, including Cincinnati, Ohio and Springfield, Mo. Daily record lows are possible in at least two dozen major cities from Texas to the Midwest including Minneapolis/St. Paul, Kansas City, and Austin, Texas.
(MORE: Preventing Frozen Pipes)
Monday's highs, if you want to call them that, may not get to 10 degrees below zero as far south as Champaign, Ill., including Chicago and Minneapolis/St. Paul.
In fact, Monday's afternoon high in Chicago may threaten the all-time record coldest daily high temperature in the Windy City, -11 degrees on Jan. 18, 1994 and Christmas Eve 1983. That said, our current forecast shows temperatures around -5 degrees at midnight Monday morning, so that will probably go down as the official high for Monday.
Highs are unlikely to rise above zero Monday in Cincinnati, which would be the first time this has happened there since Jan. 20, 1985. Dating to 1872, the Queen City has only had five days where highs did not reach zero degrees. Again, that said, temperatures could still be in the teens and 20s before 1 a.m., technically keeping Monday out of the record books.

Tuesday AM Lows

Tuesday Highs

Tuesday morning lows will again plummet into the 20s below zero over much of the Upper Mississippi Valley, teens below zero in much of the western Great Lakes and Ohio Valley, and below zero as far south as the southern Appalachians. Over 70 daily record lows may fall by the wayside Tuesday from the Deep South to the Northeast and Midwest.
(VIDEO: Keep Your Pets Safe)
Particularly notable will be the cold in the Ohio Valley Tuesday morning. For example, Toledo, Ohio may have its coldest morning in almost 20 years (Jan. 18-19, 1994), and may be within two degrees of its all-time record of -20 set on Jan. 21, 1984.
Tuesday's highs won't be quite as bitterly cold in the Upper Midwest, but may be stuck below zero in parts of the Upper Mississippi Valley, Great Lakes and Ohio Valley. Furthermore, brisk west winds will still be in play over the Great Lakes, sending wind chills into the 30s, 40s, and even 50s below zero from western New York to northern Minnesota.
In records dating to 1874, Detroit has only had five calendar days during which the daytime high has failed to reach zero, the last of which was their all-time coldest daily high, -4 degrees on Jan. 19, 1994. Tuesday's high in the Motor City may threaten that all-time record!
Jan. 19, 1994 was also the last time a daily high in Cleveland remained in subzero territory, the same year Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field), home of baseball's Cleveland Indians, opened.
Also shivering on Tuesday will be the Northeast, where single-digit highs are expected over much of the interior Northeast, and teens will anchor over the I-95 corridor including Boston, New York, Philly, and, perhaps, Washington, D.C.
In the Deep South, lows in the single digits are possible as far south as southern parts of the Atlanta Metro area on Tuesday morning. This would be the first single digit temperature reading in the city since Jan. 24, 2003. If Atlanta reaches 5 degrees above zero or colder, it will be the coldest temperature since the city plunged to 8 below zero on Jan. 21, 1985.
Wind chills Tuesday morning may drop well into the teens below zero from Atlanta northward into the southern Appalachians. Some of the higher elevations could have wind chill readings 20 to 30 degrees below zero.
High temperatures both Monday and Tuesday will be stuck in the 20s in Atlanta and Birmingham, Ala. Highs in the 30s are possible as far south as the Gulf Coast.
Hard freeze watches are in effect Monday night and Tuesday morning as far south as central Florida. Outlying areas away from urban centers may dip into the 20s for a few hours Tuesday morning.

Any Relief?

While certainly a miserable cold air outbreak, we have relief in store.
Due to a lack of blocking upper atmospheric high pressure over the north Atlantic Ocean near Greenland, this bitter cold air will quickly sweep out by mid-late next week.
By Wednesday, subzero high temperatures will be virtually gone from the Lower 48 States. Thursday, highs in the 20s or 30s in much of the Great Lakes and Northeast will seem downright balmy compared to earlier in the week.
MORE: Coldest Places on Earth

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Wild horses in Fraser, Colorado. (Flickr/Steven Carlton)