A powerful cold front blasting through the Northeast and Midwest on Tuesday was expected to bring extreme wind chills near -45 degrees, which can cause frostbite in just 10 minutes, as even parts of the South braved bitter conditions.
New York City residents were seen bundled up from head to toe as they trudged to school and work through 16-degree weather Tuesday morning. The Big Apple hasn’t suffered through an entire day of temperatures not rising above 20 degrees in Central Park since Jan 31, 2019 when the high there was 16 degrees, National Weather Service said. The mercury is expected to rise to about 21 degrees in the late afternoon.
Conditions were even worse up the East Coast in Massachusetts, where freezing weather forced Boston’s public schools to close. There was light snow fall on Tuesday morning that was expected to be followed by a second wave of Arctic air as wind chills fall below zero, NWS said.
In spots across the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes regions, wind chill temperatures were expected to drop to as low as negative 40, prompting the NWS to issue wind chill warnings and advisories for parts of 12 states, Forbes reported.
Water in a fountain in New York City’s Bryant Park turns to icicles as the city experiences weather under 20 degrees for the first time in two years
Hunter Raymond (pictured) gets his ice fishing tip ready while fishing on the setbacks of the Connecticut River, in Hinsdale, New Hampshire in the midst of an Arctic Blast
A young woman, wearing just a hoodie and sweatpants, gazes out towards the ocean at Robert Moses State Park, on Long island, on Tuesday in 17 degree weather
A pedestrian walks past a cloud of steam in Boston on Tuesday where the weather dropped to a freezing 9 degrees
Thomas Nosal (pictured) stayed warm by wearing a hat over his helmet following his daily bicycle commute to his job as a civil engineer, on Tuesday in Portland, Maine
Two kids are bundled up, covering their eyes and face with hats and masks as they make their way to school on Tuesday morning in Manhattan
Hofstra University in Nassau County, New York records 16 degree temperatures on Tuesday morning
The National Weather Service warned that wind chills between 35 and 40 below zero can cause ‘frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 10 minutes.’
Those in Detroit began the day in 6-degree weather, while it was 4 degrees in Chicago and minus-6 in Green Bay, Wisconsin,
Cities in the South also didn’t escape the cold, with temperatures dropping to 29 in Atlanta, 21 in Washington DC and 22 Nashville, NWS reported.
In Boston, Tuesday’s dusting dropped visibility to under a mile in some locations, NWS Boston meteorologist Bill Simpson told MassLive.com
The lowest wind chill in the state is forecast to be in North Adams, in the Berkshires, at -23 degrees.
In Buffalo, New York, temperatures are not expected to rise above 10 degrees.
On Tuesday, temperatures in Lake Placid in New York dropped to -8 degrees making it colder than Antarctica, where it was -9 degrees today and is currently summer.
A New York woman braves the cold temperatures on Tuesday as she makes her way through Manhattan
Boston Public Works employees work on shutting off a water main on Tuesday after an underground water main broke and flooded the streets in Boston, Massachusetts
A fresh coat of snow is seen in Norton, Massachusetts on Tuesday morning
A pedestrian walks through steam from an underground pipe in Boston, Massachusetts where temperatures dipped to 8 degrees
Frozen Apple: Commuters in New York City bundle up against the artic temperatures that hit the east coast on Tuesday morning
A bundled up man looks cold as he waits for a bus in Stamford, Connecticut on Tuesday morning where temperatures dropped to 14 degrees
Even dogs in New York City bundled up on Tuesday morning to combat the freezing weather that felt like zero degrees
A woman wears Ugg shoes and a white puffy coat on the New York City subway on Tuesday to battle the 17 degree weather
‘With AccuWeather Real Feel Temperatures expected to be five to 10 degrees lower than the actual air temperature across the region on Tuesday, anyone headed outdoors will certainly want to layer up,’ Gilbert said.
Those on the roads should also prepare their vehicles with an emergency cold weather kit in case of a breakdown and homeowners are urged to protect their pipes.
The brutally cold air and fierce winds will also lead to heavy lake effect snow downwind of Lake Superior and Lake Ontario, and by Tuesday morning, parts of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and the Tug Hill Plateau of New York had more than a foot of snow on the ground.
But the brunt of the cold weather is expected to move out of the area on Wednesday, with warmer weather forecasted throughout the week, the NWS predicts.
Meteorologists are also keeping an eye on a clipper system that could come out of Canada and bring some light snow to the Great Lakes and the Northeast by the weekend, but accumulations are expected to be light.
The National Weather Service predicts parts of the Northeast and New England could face below zero temperatures when taking into account the wind chill on Tuesday
Wind chill temperatures on Tuesday morning are forecasted to reach -20 degrees in Burlington and -15 in Green Bay
A man in New York City bundles up on Tuesday morning where temperatures were below 20 degrees, while a dutiful New Yorker takes his pup for a morning walk despite wind gusts in the area that made it feel like zero degrees
A New York City jogger does not let record cold temperatures stop him from going on a run in Brooklyn on Tuesday morning
Skaters use the freezing weather as an excuse to go skating in Bryant Park in New York City on Tuesday morning
But the brunt of the cold weather is expected to move out of the area on Wednesday, with warmer weather forecasted throughout the week
Greg Greenman (pictured) goes for a swim in the chilly Atlantic Ocean on Tuesday morning in South Portland, Maine where temperatures dipped to the single digits