Frigid weather is in store for millions of Americans this week, with an encroaching blast of bitterly cold air expected to cause record-low temperatures and potentially deadly conditions in some areas.
A high-pressure weather system is pushing a mass of Arctic air down from Canada into the central U.S. beginning on Tuesday, the National Weather Service said, which is expected to cause temperatures to plummet in many states.
The frostiest conditions will be felt in the Great Plains, but temperatures will also plunge across the Midwest, Northeast, South and Southwest. There could be freezing temperatures as far south as the Gulf Coast, with sub-zero wind chills possibly extending all the way to Texas.
Potentially heavy snowfall is also in the forecast. Parts of Kansas and Missouri could receive more than 8 inches of snow through Wednesday, while more than 4 inches were expected in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Virginia.
On Monday, temperatures were already 40 degrees below normal near the Canadian border.
Forecasters said wind chills between -30 and -60 degrees would take shape over the northern Great Plains and last for several days. "These extreme conditions can cause frostbite within minutes," the NWS said. The cold could be "life-threatening" in parts of western and central North Dakota, where wind chills could dip to -60 degrees for several mornings this week.
Forecasters anticipate that multiple daily temperature records will be broken in the central U.S. this week. But the bitter cold will spread across much of the U.S., with sub-zero wind chills expected in much of the Midwest and Northeast as well as parts of the West and the South through Friday.
The cold snap arrives just days after a storm system marked by heavy winds and flash flooding swept through parts of the South over the weekend, leaving at least nine people dead in Kentucky and one person dead in Georgia.
Copyright 2025 NPR