Cold Air Blast or Wind Chill?

Bundle up everyone because temperatures have plummeted again! This morning in Raleigh, NC we had a low of 12 and the wind chill is between 2 and -12 Fahrenheit in the Triangle. Boone was forecasted to have wind chill temperatures below -17! The temperature today is likely not going to leave the 20s and by the looks of walking around NC State this morning, students did not prepare well for this weather.

There is no precip or even very much cloud cover this morning as the Canadian High has pushed South again and is situated right on top of us. Here is the isotherm (lines or regions of similar temperature) map:

Temperatures as you can see have also dropped significantly in the New England States and more snow is possible in the Northeastern Mississippi River Valley and areas surrounding the Great Lakes. Chicago has forecasts for severe wind chill and between 2-4 inches of snow in the next 48 hours with temperatures staying in the low 20s and below. New York, NY is forecasted to receive up to an inch of snow and temperatures likely will not rise above freezing in the next 72 hours. North Guilford, Maine will receive snow accumulation over the next 72 hours and temperatures likely will not rise above the mid 20s with lows dropping below 0 Fahrenheit.

MiScan forecast for tomorrow (Saturday, January 25, 2014) in RDU:

It looks like temperatures could get into the mid teens tonight with a slight wind chill hanging around 10 Fahrenheit before sunrise. Tomorrow we will get a bit warmer and a bit more cloudy as the high pressure system moves out to the Atlantic: High in the low 40s (between 42-44) tomorrow with partly cloudy skies with increasing cloud cover throughout the day. Mostly clear tomorrow night. Breezy tomorrow with a shift in the wind from the SSW (morning/early afternoon) to the WSW (late afternoon/evening). Winds reaching 15 mph possible tomorrow afternoon.

There is a low pressure system pushing a Cold Front down toward us here in NC (currently on the Canadian Border). I will be watching this closely over the next few days as there is potential for more winter weather here in NC with this system depending on how the sub-polar jet stream changes across the US in the coming days.

Have a great weekend everyone! I am going to Wilmington for the weekend but I will have my computer with me provided an update is necessary. For those of you around the Great Lakes, be careful of Lake-Effect snow, windy conditions (potentially blowing snow drifts from the next couple of days), and cold temperatures with wind chill significantly below 0! I will post tomorrow night (Saturday night) with an update for the Great Lakes area.