Later this week, much of the Midwest and Northeast will have the lowestdaytime temperatures of the winter thus far.Friday through Sunday, the heart of a harsh arctic air mass will sweep eastwardover Canada from Manitoba to Quebec, but a good deal of this air will breakaway to invade the United States.
One tongue of harsh cold will grip the much of the Midwest on Thursday andFriday. Highs in Minneapolis will be not far from zero F.
In Chicago, single-digit cold on Friday would easily undercut the previouscoldest daytime of 16 F set back in mid-December 2010.
From St. Louis to Indianapolis and Louisville, odds are good that Friday'sdaytime will be the coldest one so far this winter.
Meanwhile, a second tongue of arctic cold will stab southward into New Yorkstate and New England on Saturday and Sunday. On one of these two days, much ofthe Northeast, even as far south as New York, will have their lowest maximumtemperature for the winter so far.
As for the Great Lakes to the Middle Atlantic, the late-week cold outbreak willbe harsh. However, in crossing the Great Lakes, some of the sting will be takenout of the blast, so high temperatures are less likely to undercut earlierlowest daytime readings.
Story by AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Jim Andrews
