7:00 AM | ***An Arctic blast arrives later today only to be followed by another Arctic front late Saturday...the second blast will likely be accompanied by accumulating snow and the coldest air mass yet this season***

6-Day NYC Forecast

Today

Mostly cloudy, becoming windy, cold, occasional snow showers during the mid-day and afternoon hours, perhaps a heavier burst of snow producing a quick coating to an inch or two, highs in the middle 30’s

Tonight

Snow showers ending early, windy and becoming brutally cold, lows in the mid-to-upper single digits in many suburban locations with sub-zero wind chills

Friday

Mostly sunny, windy, bitter cold, mid-to-upper teens for highs with sub-zero wind chills

Friday Night

Partly cloudy, winds die down, brutal cold, low teens

Saturday

Increasing clouds, becoming windy, cold, snow late in the day and at night with accumulations likely, mid 20’s

Sunday

The coldest day of the winter so far…partly sunny, very windy with potential damaging wind gusts, painfully cold, low-to-mid teens for highs and dangerous sub-zero wind chills

Monday

Mostly sunny, breezy, very cold, near 20 degrees for highs after a bitter cold start

Tuesday

Mostly cloudy, quite cold, snow likely late, low 30’s

Discussion

A vigorous Arctic cold front is headed our way and it’ll generate scattered snow showers here during the mid-day and afternoon hours – perhaps even a brief heavier burst of snow in a snow squall. Accumulations from this frontal system should be on the order of a coating to an inch by early tonight and there can be slick spots for the evening commute. Temperatures will plunge in the overnight hours bottoming out in the upper single digits in many suburban locations by early tomorrow morning. Winds will pick up in intensity later today and remain strong through much of Friday generating sub-zero wind chills at times.

Before this Arctic air mass even has a chance to modify, another one will be fast-approaching as we begin the weekend and this one will be downright painful. By late Saturday, a clipper system and its associated Arctic front will be dropping southeastward across the Great Lakes and this will generate some snow in the area from late Saturday into early Sunday and perhaps even a period of steadier accumulating snow (2-5 inches of accumulation on the table for this event). The clipper system will intensify rapidly off the Northeast US coastline once it passes over the relatively warm waters of the western Atlantic Ocean late Saturday and brutally cold air will flood into the Mid-Atlantic region by Sunday. In fact, Sunday should turn out to be the coldest day of the winter so far in the eastern US all the way from Maine to Florida and low temperatures on Sunday and Monday could flirt with the 0 degree mark in many I-95 corridor locations. Winds will be very strong on Sunday and could be potentially damaging - power outages are the last thing we need on Sunday, but that possibility cannot be ruled out. Another accumulating snow threat will come Tuesday into Wednesday as tons of “southern” moisture heads right towards the Mid-Atlantic region. This storm could also produce significant ice and perhaps even plain rain in the area...just too early to make that call yet.

Video

httpv://youtu.be/7vLfp462510