Historic, Dangerous Cold Could Set New Records
BOSTON (CBS) - Historic, dangerous, bone-rattling cold.
Not what you want to hear the day after a blizzard. We don't get a whole lot of cold temperature records these days, more often than not, when we break records in the last few years/decades, it is of the warm variety. Perhaps that makes what has been happening and what is about to happen even more dramatic.
Sure, we get a period or two each winter that can be pretty harsh, we may even throw the records on the TV screen just on the off-chance we may approach them. But it's safe to say we haven't experienced anything as prolonged and frigid as this in a VERY long time.
How long you ask? Well we've been doing a lot of digging and the closest thing we could find was way back in 1917-1918 (for a stretch this prolonged and this cold). And we are now outlasting even that old streak!
If you simply take just the consecutive days below 32 degrees in Boston, Friday makes 11 in a row. No doubt we will be well below 32 both Saturday and Sunday in Boston, so that will get us up to 13 days. This will tie us for the fourth longest streak of days below 32 degrees in recorded Boston history!
As cold as it has been, this weekend will be even colder. This is rock bottom.
Let's take you through the next 48 hours and you may want to put on your long johns and footie pajamas for this one.
Friday Night into early Saturday
Boston low: 0 degrees
Suburbs low: -5 to -10
Wind chill: -20 to -35
Saturday daytime
Boston high: 7 (THIS WOULD TIE A RECORD SET IN 1896)
Suburbs high: -5 to +5 (a tad milder on the Cape)
Wind chill: -15 to -25
Saturday Night into early Sunday
Boston low: -4 (THIS WOULD BREAK THE RECORD OF -2 SET IN 1896)
Suburbs low: -5 to -20
Wind chill: -25 to -35 (The winds actually slacken off quite a bit by Sunday morning)
Sunday daytime:
Boston high: 16
Suburbs high: 5 to 15 (Again, milder on the Cape)
Very little wind.
Looking for some good news?
Next week is looking much more "average" with highs in the 30's and perhaps 40's by the end of the week!
And looking longer term, it appears as though a prolonged January thaw is likely for the mid-to-latter half of January!
There is a light at the end of the cold, dark tunnel.
Follow Terry on Twitter @TerryWBZ
