Bitter blast of Arctic air sends temperatures plunging from Montana to Texas

Pedestrians bundle up as they walk through the first snow of the season in New York City. Forecasters say record-setting cold may be coming for the Northeast this week. Photo courtesy of the City of New York/Twitter

Nov. 8 (UPI) — Winterlike temperatures that pushed into the northern Plains through the middle of this week will continue charging south and east through the into the weekend.

Cold air arrived in the northern Plains on Wednesday into Wednesday night. Temperatures dropped into the single digits from Montana to the Dakotas and into northern Iowa throughout Wednesday night.

The normal low temperature for this region during the beginning of November is in the middle to upper 20s F.

The cold air did not stop in the northern Plains as near-freezing temperatures followed a cold front sinking south into Texas through Wednesday night.

In Amarillo, Texas, the high reached 72 F Wednesday afternoon before plummeting to 32 F early Thursday morning.

Cold will continue to expand eastward ahead of the weekend. Behind a storm that brought snow to the Great Lakes and Northeast, allowing temperatures to reach their lowest point this season Friday night.

Daily record low temperatures could be challenged for cities from Boston to Nashville.

“The low temperature could plunge to 25 F in Philadelphia on Saturday morning. It hasn’t been this cold so early in the season there since 1976,” Jesse Ferrell, AccuWeather meteorologist and social media manager, said.

A stiff northwesterly wind will keep AccuWeather RealFeel Temperatures about 10 degrees f to 20 degrees F lower across much of the region.

Normal high temperatures for the beginning of November range from the lower 40s F in northern Maine to the lower 60s F in the mid-Atlantic.

The Southeast will not be spared from this push of winterlike air as the chill is expected to penetrate into the Deep South.

“Afternoon high temperatures Friday will be 10-20 degrees below normal for early November across the Southeast, with widespread temperatures stuck in the 40s and 50s,” stated AccuWeather meteorologist Jake Sojda. “Even temperatures in communities along the Gulf coast will struggle into the 60s.”

This will set up the potential for widespread frosts and freezes across the South Friday night. Readings for many communities away from the Gulf Coast will fall through the 30s Friday night, with some upper 20s even likely from Arkansas to northern Mississippi and northern Alabama into the Tennessee Valley.

While more comfortable air will return to the South for the second half of the weekend and into the beginning of next week, another blast of Arctic air is forecast sink into the northern Plains.

However, by early next week, a storm is expected gather in the center of the country, helping to pull down even more cold air across the United States.

In addition to providing more wintry precipitation from places like Texas to Massachusetts, the storm will also bring in an even stronger push of cold.

Over the first couple of days of next week, most communities in the eastern two-thirds of nation could be at least 10 degrees to 20 degrees below normal for mid-November.

“A widespread killing freeze is likely to end the growing season across much of the South early next week,” said AccuWeather senior meteorologist Dan Kottlowski.

Low temperatures may fall below freezing all the way to the Gulf Coast, but the most intense cold will be in the northern Plains where temperatures may even fall below zero. Coupled with gusty winds, it will feel even colder across the region and time spent outside will need to be limited.

“While the extreme cold is expected to give way to a milder pattern to close out November, it may take until the third week of November to clear out the well below-normal temperatures from the northern Plains through the Great Lakes,” AccuWeather lead long-range meteorologist Paul Pastelok said.

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