Dangerous cold headed back to Midwest, Northeast

Jan 20, 2014

The polar vortex is headed southward once again, returning dangerously cold air to the Midwest and Northeast in the upcoming days.

The polar plunge has already started to invade the Upper Midwest and will continue to spread across more of the eastern half of the U.S. through Tuesday night.

While temperatures will drop below freezing as far south as northern Florida Tuesday night, the core of the cold will center on the Midwest and Northeast.

Highs will be held to the single digits and teens across these two regions once the frigid air takes up residence. Temperatures will even remain below zero during the daylight hours on Tuesday in and around Minnesota and the St. Lawrence Valley.

Temperatures will bottom out at 20 below zero or lower over parts of Minnesota Monday night, then 10 below zero or lower across the entire St. Lawrence Valley Tuesday night.

The good news is that prolonged biting winds will not accompany this cold blast in the Midwest, preventing a repeat of the extremely low AccuWeather.com RealFeel® temperatures that were registered earlier this month.

The Northeast's coast will have to endure an extended stretch of brisk and frigid winds in the wake of Tuesday's snow.

The magnitude of this cold blast is still dangerous enough to put residents who do not properly bundle up at risk for frostbite and hypothermia.

Care should also be taken to ensure that livestock and other animals housed outdoors have adequate shelter.

'The cold may be intense enough to cause school closings, frozen pipes and water main breaks,' stated AccuWeather.com Expert Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski. 'Heating systems may struggle to keep up, people will spend more money keeping their homes and businesses warm and ice will again build up on area rivers.'

The Alberta Clipper at the leading edge of the dangerous cold blast will spread snow from the Dakotas to the Ohio Valley, mid-Atlantic and southern New England Monday through Tuesday.

A band of steadier and more disruptive snow will unfold along the spine of the Appalachians to southern New Jersey, the Delmarva and Cape Cod. Washington, D.C., lies within this zone.

A couple of snow showers will even spread as far south as the Carolinas, including Charlotte and Raleigh, N.C.

Beyond Wednesday, temperatures may slightly rebound but frigid air should win out for the remainder of the month.

The next shot of arctic air, due to reach the U.S. Wednesday and Thursday, will encompass more of the Plains than the early week blast.