Dangerous, Record Setting Cold Follows Blizzard
BOSTON (CBS) - The blizzard may be winding down, but the dangerous weather is far from over. Not the news you wanted to hear, I am sure. It almost isn't fair…some of the highest tides and worst flooding since 1978, more than a foot of snow in many towns and now we have to deal with the coldest temperatures in years. Ugh.
There is no warmup, no thaw, no chance to catch a breath. The cold pours in immediately. Any and all water that came ashore today along our South Shore or over the Cape and Islands will freeze up. Temperatures overnight will plunge into the single digits for just about all of Southern New England. The winds will decrease from their peak earlier today but remain quite gusty ranging from 20-40mph through Friday morning. Wind chill readings will range from 0 to -20 degrees tonight through early Friday.
During the day on Friday, very little improvement. High temperatures on Friday will struggle to reach the teens and likely stay in the single digits for most of Worcester county. Wind chills during Friday will average -10 to -25 degrees.
RECORD #1 We are currently forecasting a high of 13 degrees on Friday, this would break the record low max of 14 degrees set in 1884
Friday night into Saturday, another plunge…Temperatures will drop well below zero for the majority of the area and wind chills will range from -20 to -35 degrees! High temperatures on Saturday will stay below zero north and west of Boston.
RECORD #2 We are currently forecasting a high temperature of 7 degrees on Saturday, this would tie a record low max (originally set in 1896)
The cold bottoms out Saturday night and Sunday morning. Lows in many of the suburbs will reach -20! (These are temperatures NOT wind chills!)
RECORD #3 We are currently forecasting a low temperature in Boston of -8 on Sunday morning, this would shatter the old record of -2 set in 1896 (Notice these records are all from the 1800s! We don't get cold like this anymore!)
This would be the coldest night since Valentine's Day in 2016 (-9). If Boston were to drop to -10 that would be the coldest temperature since 1957!
Looking for some good news?
Next week is looking much more "average" with highs in the 30s and perhaps 40s 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!
