A major snowstorm that lashed parts of the Midwest on Monday will give way to record-smashing cold this week as a powerful polar vortex drives a deep freeze across the eastern half of the nation, forecasters said.
A snowstorm will wreak havoc across the Deep South on Tuesday.
The bitter cold will bring below-zero temperatures to a quarter of the continental USA. The National Weather Service in Des Moines, Iowa, warned that "this is the coldest air many of us will have ever experienced." The service said that if people go outside, they should "avoid taking deep breaths, and minimize talking."
Schools could be closed in Iowa as buses may struggle to start, the weather service said.
Wednesday could be the coldest day ever recorded in Chicago – a forecast high of 14 below zero, the weather service said. There's a chance the Windy City will break its all-time coldest temperature record of 27 degrees below zero. Chicago's famous Brookfield Zoo will be closed Wednesday and Thursday for only the fourth time in its 85-year history.
"Some locations in the Midwest will be below zero continuously for 48-72 hours," according to AccuWeather meteorologist Mike Doll.
It could be warmer above the Arctic Circle than in Chicago by Wednesday, with temperatures forecast to fall in the Windy City to 20-to-25 degrees below zero Fahrenheit (minus-29 to minus-32 Celsius).
New York and Washington will be warmer, with a bit of snow.
Chicago is expected to approach an all-time record low of minus 27, set in 1985, according to Brian Hurley, a senior branch forecaster at the U.S. Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland. Wind chill, meanwhile, could feel closer to minus-40 to minus-45.
"That is pretty amazing," Hurley said by telephone on Monday. But there's hope ahead for the weekend, when the cold is forecast to retreat across the U.S., with temperatures returning to seasonal levels or warmer, Hurley added.
(Score: 2) by Hartree on Tuesday January 29 2019, @07:43PM (4 children)
I've got a friend in Winnipeg who teases me about cold weather. He's welcome to gloat.
When Fahrenheit and Celsius are the same number that's colder than I want to be.
(Score: 2) by captain normal on Tuesday January 29 2019, @08:59PM (3 children)
"When Fahrenheit and Celsius are the same number..."
At first I thought that's not possible, but a couple of minutes of math shows that -40 F does = -40 C.
When life isn't going right, go left.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 29 2019, @09:39PM (1 child)
TIL there are people that don't know -40C=-40F.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 30 2019, @12:47AM
And some of those people are normal.
(Score: 2) by DeVilla on Thursday January 31 2019, @01:53AM
Well, it's cold enough here that F/C matters again. My kids and I like doing the trick where you boil a pot of water and throw it in the air outside. It's stupid, but it still make us chuckle.