Arctic Air Filtering Down Throughout Much of U.S. in Days Ahead

A blast of Arctic air is going to bring dangerously cold conditions to millions of Americans across the central and eastern U.S. Read on for more information about how cold you can expect the mercury to dip in the days ahead.

Dangerously Cold Weather Enveloping the Central and Eastern U.S.

A large portion of the country east of the Rockies will be left shivering this week as another infusion of frigid air dives down from Canada. The chill is already in the air in the central U.S. with the eastern portions of the country up next.

Energy demands are expected to soar through the end of the week as the mercury continues to plummet. Some areas of the nation will see the coldest weather of the year thus far, happening at a time when most people are expecting the arrival of spring.

The northern Plains have already been experiencing the painfully cold weather. Temperatures across this region struggled to break the zero-degree mark on Tuesday. These readings were up to 40 degrees below the norm for the middle of February.

The mass of cold air is now inching to the south and into the Great Plains just as an infusion of moisture brings snow and ice to this corner of the country. The cold weather will push to the east on Wednesday, hitching a ride with the winter storm that is also spreading in that direction.

The arrival of the frigid temperatures will serve as a double whammy to areas that picked up wintry precipitation on Tuesday. For instance, Oklahoma City woke up to temperatures that were just barely over zero degrees on Wednesday morning along with the fresh snow. The windy conditions combined with the existing snow on the ground to bring the real feel readings to well below zero in the capital city.

Local officials are warning residents to take this blast of cold air seriously. Exposure to real feel readings of this magnitude can trigger life-threatening hypothermia, particularly if skin is left exposed to the elements.

Specific City Forecasts

Now let's take a look at a few specific city forecasts. The central Plains will see the chilliest weather on Thursday. Despite plentiful sunshine, Topeka, Kansas will only see a high of 13 degrees. Overnight readings are forecast to plunge to 5 degrees below zero in the capital city.

The cold will also infiltrate areas to the south. Oklahoma City is predicted to see temperatures hover in the low 20s for a high. The real story will be the overnight lows that could challenge record-low readings when they fall into the high single digits.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear is warning his state's residents to prepare for the invasion of cold air. This is a part of the nation that is still recovering from last weekend's mass flooding event. The city of Louisville is forecast to see a high of 22 degrees on Thursday under mostly sunny skies. You can expect an overnight low of just 14 degrees.

The core of the cold will push farther to the east and the south on Friday. Chicago is forecast to top out with a high of 29 degrees under mostly sunny skies. Overnight lows will dip to about 11 degrees in the Windy City.

Even normally temperate areas such as Houston will see some of this Arctic air. The metro area is forecast to see a high of just 41 degrees to bring the work week to a close. The mercury will not budge much from this level even after the sun goes down with an overnight low of about 38 degrees on tap. It will be a breezy day in Houston with winds out of the northeast at 10 to 20 mph.

It will also be a chilly day in the interior portions of the Southeast. Atlanta is expecting a high that tops out in the low 40s. The Peach City is forecast to see a low of 26 degrees before temperatures rebound into the 50s by the weekend. The good news for Friday in Atlanta is that the winds are expected to ease on this day. Thursday's forecast across the metro area is calling for winds out of the northwest at 20 to 30 mph.