Waves of Arctic Air to Freeze Midwest, East During Second Half of February

By Brett Rathbun, AccuWeather.com Meteorologist

February 13,2015; 10:48PM,EST

 

 

Frigid conditions will continue to build across the Midwest and East in waves over the next several days and possibly until the end of the month.
The first wave of arctic air settled across the Northeast on Friday, while a new blast of arctic air gathered momentum over the Canada Prairies.
This wave of frigid air will race across the Midwest on Saturday with AccuWeather.com RealFeel® Temperatures plunging well below zero.

According to AccuWeather.com Meteorologist Brian Lada, "The combination of frigid air will not only be painful to endure for short periods of time outdoors but can bring life-threatening conditions for those not properly dressed."
Temperatures across the Midwest on Saturday will fail to reach the teens from North Dakota to northern Michigan including the cities of Fargo, North Dakota, Minneapolis and Marquette, Michigan. High temperatures may fail to get above zero across northern Minnesota and North Dakota. The air will remain cold into Sunday.
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For any individual not properly dressed during these cold air outbreaks, they run an increased risk for frostbite and hypothermia.

According to AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski, "The waves of arctic air moving in could bring disruptions to some of the trains in the northern cities. The prolonged cold penetrating deep into the ground could also cause water main breaks from the Midwest to the Northeast."
A slight break in the cold for some areas of the mid-Atlantic and Northeast will occur on Saturday ahead of storm system that will bring blizzard conditions to New England during the weekend.

The second wave of arctic air will build into the East in the wake of this storm system Saturday night and Sunday.
Record low temperatures may fall on multiple dates in the Northeast and South.

In the South, despite bright sunshine, locations from northern Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia will have high temperatures only in the 30s during the second half of the weekend and into early next week.
"The air will get cold enough in northern Florida to bring the risk of damage to unprotected sensitive fruits and vegetables," Sosnowski said.
"Be sure to wear extra layers when going outside and bring your animals indoors to keep them protected from the arctic air," Lada said.
Yet another wave of arctic air will build across the Midwest into early next week and will move across the East in the wake of a potential storm system bringing another round of snow to the mid-Atlantic and Northeast at midweek.
According to AccuWeather Meteorologist Ben Noll, "By next week, the cold will dive into portions of Texas and into the Carolinas that have yet to experience the winter chill this season."
"By late next week, another blast of arctic air may dive even farther south and bring cold air to the Gulf coast."
Stay tuned to AccuWeather.com for updates on the cold and next week's potential storm.
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