Plummeting Temperatures
Arctic front brings life-threatening temperatures to Northeast
A chilling arctic front is set to bring life-threatening winter weather and plummeting temperatures to the Northeast United States this weekend, sending residents scrambling to stay warm.
The National Weather Service said in a memo Saturday morning that temperatures across the region "will be 10 to 30 degrees below average." A winter storm warning was placed in effect by the NWS for the Northeast that extended down to the mid-Atlantic area.
According to CNN, more than 20 million people will feel the effects of the bone-chilling weather, with wind chill advisories seen across all of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. New York state and northern Pennsylvania remain under a winter weather watch as well.
As the winter temperatures arrive, officials across these states are urging residents to stay inside, and precautions are being taken to try and protect the homeless.
In Massachusetts, where meteorologists are predicting wind chills up to -30 degrees Fahrenheit, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu declared a state of emergency and activated warming centers across the city.
"I urge all Boston residents to take precautions, stay warm and safe, and check on your neighbors during this cold emergency," Wu said in a statement, adding that the city was "moving quickly to ensure that everyone is protected from the intense cold weather."
New York state, which is still recovering from the effects of a deadly blizzard that ravaged Buffalo this past December, also opened emergency warming centers.
However, the place making nationwide headlines is Mount Washington in New Hampshire, where WMUR-TV reported the wind chill to be -108 degrees Fahrenheit. "The unofficial American record was -105, so it's likely the coldest wind chill in U.S. history," the station noted.