However, a deep freeze, thanks to the polar vortex dipping down from Siberia, is about to bring even harsher arctic blast to nearly 300 million Americans starting this weekend. Maps show where and when the cold front will arrive.
A new blast of Arctic air sweeping from north to south will bring bone-chilling temperatures to millions of Americans this weekend and next week.
According to the National Weather Service, a polar vortex will impact most of the country this weekend, here is what you need to know.
A blast of Arctic air is set to cover much of the United States with temperatures below freezing starting on Friday and into next week, impacting millions of Americans in nearly all of the contiguous states.
A brutal polar vortex is set to bury the Big Apple in snow Sunday and then deliver deadly single-digit temperatures that will feel like 15 degrees below zero.
The polar vortex is expected to reach the Utah-Idaho border sometime in the late afternoon and evening Friday as it continues to move south. As it moves through parts of the state, it will produce small snow showers, bringing more snow to the region before drier conditions return.
These severe cold events occur when the polar jet stream – the familiar jet stream of winter that runs along the boundary between Arctic and more temperate air – dips deeply southward, bringing the cold Arctic air to regions that don’t often experience it.
NEWS has issued Weather Impact Days for Friday through Tuesday due to subzero temperatures, wind chill and snow.
The polar vortex is a ring of cold air that typically circles the Arctic. A strong jet stream essentially acts like a fence, keeping it locked there. If there's any weakening in the jet stream (the fence), the frigid air can become unstable and spill out. This sends the normally trapped cold air much farther south.
FOX59 Meteorologist Ethan Rosuck provided an update on the dangerous cold Indianapolis could see at the start of the work week.
Overnight lows will range from -8 degrees in Bayfield to -24 degrees in Orr. With a blustery northwest wind, wind chill values will be between -30 and -40.