Temperatures are expected to begin falling below zero in areas north and west of Chicago Friday night.
The heaviest snow is expected from southeastern Minnesota into northeastern Iowa and far southwestern Wisconsin, where a winter weather advisory is in effect from 9 p.m. Saturday to noon Sunday.
The National Weather Service has posted a warning for “dangerous to potentially life threatening wind chills”. Power outages also can be expected from down tree limbs caused by the wind, along with potential damage to siding and roofing.
The NWS also reported that a risky snow squall will affect central Clarion, Mercer and southwestern Venango counties, including sections of I-79 and I-80.
The worst cold will be tonight into Sunday morning with lows between -10 and 0 and wind chills as low as -30 to -20.
The Big Apple is one of the areas under a winter chill advisory, with a possible wind chill of negative 25 degrees.
On Sunday, the high will be 22 degrees and the low will be 15.
Monday: A 20 percent chance of snow, high near 31.
Benedikt Vom Orde and Julia Felte, tourists from Essen, Germany, walk along Park Avenue in NY during a bitter cold spell, Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016. “Wind chills will slowly ease by late Sunday morning”.
Forecasters warned that temperatures would plummet below minus 17.8 C (0F) in Boston over the weekend and wind chill warnings were in effect over much of seven states, from NY to ME, with winds forecast to gust up to 45mph (72kph).
The Chicago-area will get hit with a blast of bone-chilling temperatures over the weekend as wind chills dip below zero.
Monday night: Snow before 5 a.m., then snow and sleet.
In another bit of irony – the NYC Parks Department was slated to host the “Ultimate Snow Day” in Central Park on Saturday, Jan. 23 – but that was cancelled because of a massive snowstorm that day. A dusting to an inch of accumulation is expected by the end of the day. Rain will continue through Tuesday with highs in the mid 50s. In addition, record low high temperatures will be possible in parts of the Northeast as well.
Saturday night: Increasing clouds, low around 4 below. Highs will jump back to the 40s by Thursday and Friday.