More Record Cold Targets the Northeast, Great Lakes This Weekend (FORECAST)

April 8,2016
A sharp, prolonged siege of Arctic air has shattered daily, even April monthly records in the Northeast and Great Lakes, and more record cold is expected this weekend.
Subzero cold was observed near the Canadian border in northern Michigan, northern New York and northern Maine Tuesday morning and daily record lows were set in parts of the Northeast Wednesday morning.
The next potent blast of cold air is already plunging into the Midwest thanks to yet another sharp disturbance in the overall southward dip in the jet stream. This jet plunge may persist in some form well into next week before any easing of the pattern takes place.
(MORE: Is the Polar Vortex a Factor?)

Weather Pattern Late This Week

Below are more details on the record cold earlier in the week, then our latest forecast for more cold ahead.

Late Week Arctic Cold

Below-average temperatures returned to the Midwest on Thursday, along with gusty winds.

Current Temperatures

Even colder conditions will spread from the Midwest into the East and also will brush parts of the South into the weekend.
(MORE: Snowy Weather Pattern Continues in the East)
Highs will be 10 to 25 degrees colder than average on Friday for much of the Upper Midwest, Ohio Valley and Great Lakes. Highs will once again only reach the 20s, 30s and 40s for the Upper Midwest, with perhaps a few 50s in the Ohio Valley.
(FORECAST: Chicago | Detroit | Washington, DC | New York)

Forecast Highs

Chilly temperatures will stretch from the Northeast into the Great Lakes and parts of the Southeast on Saturday. High temperatures will be up to 25 degrees below average for numerous locations east of the Mississippi River. The Northeast will only see highs climb into the 30s and 40s, with 50s in parts of North Carolina, north Georgia and Tennessee.
Though perhaps not quite as cold as earlier this week, more daily record lows are possible in the Northeast and Great Lakes Sunday morning, including the following cities (current record is in parentheses):

• Potential record lows Sunday: Albany, New York (21 degrees); Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (26 degrees); Erie, Pennsylvania (22 degrees); Scranton, Pennsylvania (20 degrees); Detroit (20 degrees); Charlotte, North Carolina (28 degrees).

Temperatures may drop into the 30s in many areas in the Tennessee Valley, north Georgia and the piedmont of the Carolinas. A frost or a freeze is probable this weekend as far south as the mountains of north Georgia.

Forecast AM Lows

Any Warm-Up In Sight?

Unfortunately, if you're tired of the cold, another plunge of cold air will dive into the Plains Monday, then is expected to camp out in the eastern half of the nation through at least the middle of next week.
(MAPS: 10-day forecast)
Some longer-range guidance suggests the cold may finally ease up by next weekend. Keep your fingers crossed if you have a case of April cabin fever.

Record Cold Early This Week

Wednesday, April 6, record lows were tied or set in the following locations:

• Concord, New Hampshire: 11 degrees
• Providence, Rhode Island: 18 degrees
• Pomona, New Jersey: 22 degrees
• Baltimore (BWI Airport), Maryland: 24 degrees
• Salisbury, Maryland: 24 degrees
• Washington (Dulles Airport): 24 degrees (tied) 
• Lynchburg, Virginia: 25 degrees (tied)
• Georgetown, Delaware: 26 degrees
• Richmond, Virginia: 27 degrees (tied)
• Fayetteville, North Carolina: 31 degrees (tied)

Actual low temperatures on April 5, 2016. Subzero cold was observed in parts of northern Michigan, Upstate New York and northern Maine.

Helped by a cold air mass refrigerated by a fresh snow cover from Winter Storm Ursula, Concord, New Hampshire shattered their all-time record low for the month of April Tuesday morning, dipping to a bone-chilling 4 degrees. The previous April cold record, 7 degrees, had stood since April 1, 1874, during the presidency of Ulysses S. Grant.
Syracuse, New York, tied its second coldest April temperature on record Tuesday morning, dipping to 9 degrees. It was only the third April low in the single digits, there, dating back to 1902.
Some other daily record lows on April 5 included:

• Negaunee Township, Michigan (NWS office): -7 degrees (second coldest temperature so late in the season, there)
• Glens Falls, New York: 7 degrees
• Binghamton, New York: 12 degrees
• Watertown, New York: 12 degrees (tied)
• Albany, New York: 14 degrees
• Rochester, New York: 14 degrees

In addition, several locations on April 4 saw record cold high temperatures. Among those cities were Concord, New Hampshire (26 degrees), Hartford, Connecticut (27 degrees), Portland, Maine (25 degrees), Providence, Rhode Island (31 degrees), and Worcester, Massachusetts (22 degrees).
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