Winter Just Won't Quit: Another Cold Blast for the Plains, Midwest and Northeast (FORECAST)

Chrissy Warrilow
Published: February 27,2015



 

The surges of arctic air across the central and eastern United States have been relentless this month.
(MORE: Coldest February on Record?)

Current Temperatures

Last week, we saw an arctic blast that brought temperatures unexperienced in decades to some cities. Another shot of bitter cold air arrived at the start of this week, breaking numerous daily record lows in the Midwest and Northeast.
Widespread below-average temperatures are expected to close out the week east of the Rockies as the next batch of bitter cold air moves southward on Thursday.
Below is the forecast for the shivering temperatures into this weekend, followed by a recap of the record cold from earlier in week.
(MORE: Daily Temperature Forecast Maps)

Saturday 

Morning Lows: Yet another round of subzero readings will revisit parts of the Upper Midwest, Great Lakes, Ohio Valley, interior Northeast and Northern New England. Record lows will be threatened in more than three dozen locations from the Midwest to the Northeast.
Potential Record Lows (record to beat is in parentheses): Indianapolis (2 degrees) | Pittsburgh (minus 1 degrees) | Cleveland (0 degrees) | Chicago (0 degrees) | Philadelphia (9 degrees) | Syracuse, New York (minus 3 degrees) | South Bend, Indiana (2 degrees)
If Pittsburgh drops below zero it will be the eighth subzero reading in the Steel City this winter; that hasn't happened since the winter of 1980-81.
Highs: Temperatures will begin to warm a little but will still be below average from the Rockies to the East Coast. Highs will reach the 20s and 30s for much of the Midwest and Northeast with highs ranging from the 30s to the 60s in the South.
To see how cold it will get in your city, click the link below.
(MORE: Your City's Forecast)

Saturday AM Lows/Saturday Highs

There is some good news as temperatures will likely moderate in the East by Sunday and Monday, ahead of another storm.

Record Cold So Far 

Below-average temperatures were in place to start the day on Friday in all areas east of the Rockies, except the Florida Peninsula. Subzero readings stretched from the interior Northeast to the Plains, Great Lakes and Upper Midwest.
Record lows were set on Friday (new record in parentheses) in Waterloo, Iowa (minus 24 degrees), Springfield, Illinois (minus 12 degrees) and Paducah, Kentucky (11 degrees).
Records were also set earlier in the week.
Tuesday morning, daily record lows were set in Concord, New Hampshire (minus 20 degrees), Burlington, Vermont (minus 19 degrees), Pittsburgh (minus 9 degrees), Binghamton, New York (minus 6 degrees), Rochester, New York (minus 9 degrees), Columbus, Ohio (minus 11 degrees), Indianapolis (minus 5 degrees) and Cincinnati (minus 7 degrees).
Syracuse, New York dipped below zero for a record 20th time in 2015 Tuesday morning, topping the previous calendar-year record of 19 such days in 1948. Bangor, Maine chalked up its 17th day with a subzero low this month alone, setting a February record there.
Bridgeport, Connecticut dipped to 0 degrees Tuesday morning, the latest in the winter season temperatures have been so cold. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (minus 4 degrees) and Windsor Locks, Connecticut (minus 8 degrees) also dipped to their coldest readings so late in the season Tuesday.
Based on preliminary data, statewide lows for Tuesday included 19 below zero in Paris, Illinois; 16 below zero in Bloomington, Indiana; 21 below zero in Newark, Ohio; 28 below zero in Chandler Valley, Pennsylvania; 15 below zero in Sussex, New Jersey; 29 below zero in Freeville, New York; 35 below zero near Sutton, Vermont; 35 below zero at Mount Washington and at First Connecticut Lake, New Hampshire; 26 below zero in Rangeley, Maine; 21 below zero in Orange, Massachusetts; 16 below zero at Stafordville and New Hartford, Connecticut; and 9 below zero in Smithfield, Rhode Island.
(MORE: The Nation's Greatest Arctic Outbreaks)
Afternoon temperatures Tuesday were still below freezing as far south as the beaches of northeastern South Carolina. Parts of New England were stuck in the single digits. Frenchville, Maine, had only managed to warm up to 4 degrees above zero as of 4 p.m. Tuesday.
The latest round of frigid air moved southward into the Midwest and Plains on Sunday. Wind chills were in the 40s below zero in parts of North Dakota and northern Minnesota Sunday morning. Bottineau, North Dakota saw the lowest actual air temperature in the Lower 48, dipping to minus 32 degrees.
On Monday morning, subzero temperatures were observed as far south as Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. Lows in the 30s below zero were reported in a few spots in northern Minnesota, northern Wisconsin and northern Michigan, while teens and 20s below zero were quite common throughout those three states.
The nation's low Monday was recorded at Clarksburg in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where the mercury hit 38 below zero. Minneapolis equaled its lowest temperature so far this winter at minus 11 degrees.
(By contrast, the state low for Alaska Monday was just 4 below zero at Barrow. Amazingly, of the 31 major weather reporting sites in Alaska, including Barrow, 26 sites had lows – yes, lows – at or above 32 degrees.)
Daily record lows Monday morning included Cleveland (minus 5 degrees); Flint, Michigan (minus 17 degrees); Fort Wayne, Indiana (minus 6 degrees); Erie, Pennsylvania (minus 7 degrees); and Grand Rapids, Michigan (minus 10 degrees).
MORE: Winter Storm Pandora in Photos