MILWAUKEE (AP) — The polar vortex that gripped much of the
country has moved on, but don’t get too comfortable — another round of
frigid air is expected to arrive next week across the northern U.S.,
from the Dakotas eastward to New England.
It’ll be cold, but not
the life-threatening cold of last week when subzero temperatures
enveloped much of the country and contributed to at least a dozen
deaths.
Temperatures will start falling over the weekend into
Monday, said Bob McMahon, a meteorologist with the National Weather
Service. The cold is expected to persist until Thursday, just in time
for a second blast of frigid air to move in and keep temperatures about
10 degrees below average, he said.
"We get these periods of
below-normal temperatures in the winter. It’s not abnormally cold, it’s
not a record cold but it is colder than normal," McMahon said Friday.
"People just need to be aware of that and take normal precautions."
The
freeze will start moderately Saturday in Pennsylvania and states
northward. Highs will generally range from the teens to lower 20s, and
the cold spell could extend as far south as the Gulf states.
But
while states such as Florida and Texas will see temperatures in the 60s
near 70 by Monday, the northern and northeastern states won’t see highs
above the single digits. In parts of the Dakotas, Minnesota, Wisconsin
and Michigan, highs might not even top zero.
Lows are expected to
remain in the subzero range on Tuesday night. While New England could
see highs of about 20 on Wednesday, the upper Midwest probably won’t see
temperatures above the teens.
That cold front is expected to be
gone by Thursday. However, meteorologists predict it’ll be followed by
another blast of cold air pushing down from Canada on Friday or Saturday
Next
week’s freeze could be accompanied by some snow, but it’d mainly be
lake-effect snow in the Great Lakes areas as the colder air blows over
the warmer water, McMahon said.
"As far as exact amounts of snow
it’s a little too hard to say right now," McMahon said. "There are
setups where we can pick up a couple of inches of snow per day if not
more — enough to provide problems with travel."
He said winds weren’t expected to be a serious factor, but at such low temperatures even a mild wind
would bring wind chill.
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