Frigid weather will usher in the New Year in the Midwest and eastern US
Frigid weather will usher in New Year
Story highlights
- The southern US will also see a cold front
- Parts of the UK woke up to wintry weather and power outages
(CNN)The
eastern United States and the Midwest are being clobbered with a brutal
cold front that will stretch through the week and probably make New
Year's Eve a frigid affair in many cities.
After
an unusually cold Christmas, "more of the country will be dealing with
this bitter cold," CNN meteorologist Gene Norman said. "We'll have one
arctic blast tonight and another toward the end of the week and into the
weekend."
Norman
said 48 million people were under a wind chill advisory Tuesday night,
up from only 30 million people earlier in the day.
In
New York City, celebrants will gather in Times Square on Saturday
night, with the temperature around 12 degrees -- but it will feel colder
because of wind chill. Temperatures will likely dip lower on New Year's
Day.
People skate at the ice rink at Central Park on Christmas day in New York City.
In
Boston, forecasters predict a low of 5 degrees on New Year's Eve and 5
degrees on the first day of the year. Mayor Marty Walsh urged residents
to take precautions for the bitterly cold weather.
"In
times like these, it's vital for residents to look out for one another,
and I encourage all Bostonians to reach out to the City if they or
their neighbors need help this winter season," he said in a statement.
Whiteout conditions are seen at Boston Common on Dec. 25, 2017.
Early winter snow socked several northern areas. Erie, Pennsylvania, recorded 62.9 inches over three days. Ridgefield, New York, had 56.9 inches of snow and Cold Station, Pennsylvania, had 32.2 inches.
Following record snowfall, 21 Pennsylvania National Guard troops have been put on active duty to help with emergencies.
Temperatures hover around zero at Buck Hill in Burnsville, Minnesota on Dec. 26.
The Midwest has already been smacked.
Minneapolis
celebrated its coldest Christmas since 1996, with a low of minus 6
degrees, said Shawn Devinny of the National Weather Service. In coming
days, the low temperatures in Minneapolis will drop even more, to minus
19 degrees, the National Weather Service said. With the wind chill, it
will feel like minus 25-40 degrees in some spots.
People
still managed to have fun, like a man on skis who could be seen being
pulled along by a horse and buggy near Morley, Minnesota. "Growing up in
a small town, we have to make things interesting when we're bored, and
apparently so do the Amish," said Tara Hayward, who shot the video.
The
cold put some people at grave risk. Police in Omaha, Nebraska, made
contact with homeless people on the street Tuesday night to make sure
they had a place to go, Officer Phil Anson told CNN.
"It's
negative 1 F, but it feels like negative 15 F," Anson said. "When it
does get very cold the homeless are a concern. We do try to keep an eye
out for them."
'Tonight we go into survivor mode'
At a Milwaukee shelter,
Repairers of the Breach, gloves, scarves and other pieces of winter
clothing were handed out to the homeless, reported CNN affiliate WITI. Temperatures will be dropping to a low of 2 degrees in Milwaukee over the next few days.
"Tonight
we go into survivor mode," said James West, the shelter director. "The
temperatures are going to drop and we're going to become an emergency
warming room, we're taking the stance that no woman or man shall be left
behind."
The state of Wisconsin, incidentally, will be marking the 50th anniversary of a famous cold weather event: the Ice Bowl
of December 31, 1967. The temperature was minus 13 degrees when 50,000
fans watched the Packers win that NFL championship game (played before
the Super Bowl even existed) at Lambeau Field Green Bay.
With snow on the ground, a person walks across a Boston street on Tuesday.
The turn in the weather was good for some businesses.
"Starting
at 7 a.m. we have done triple our normal call volume," said Jeannette
Karlzen with G&S Towing Service Inc. in Des Moines, Iowa. "I think
it's because of the cold. I get a call every five minutes. Lots of jump
starts and tire changes. Stuff people don't want to do in cold weather."
AAA
spokeswoman Gail Weinholzer said service calls in the Chicago area were
up 192% over a normal winter day, and up 219% for Minnesota-North
Dakota and 201% for Wisconsin.
The
cold produced "sea smoke" on Lake Superior. Kevin Huyck, a weather
service meteorologist in Duluth, said that happens when air temperatures
are considerably lower than the lake's temperature. The heat and
moisture from the lake go into the atmosphere, condense and billow up,
he said.
The lake effect snow is
expected to continue over the Midwest for the next couple days.
Lake-effect snow happens when cold air combines with lake water to
create narrow bands of powerful snow.
A man cleans a sidewalk with a snowplow during snowfall in Chicago on December 24.
"There
will be more snow moving into the Great Lakes on Thursday and Friday,
but it's really the cold that will be the headline for that part of the
country," Norman said.
The South's winter chill
While other parts of the country won't be as cold as the Midwest, they won't be balmy.
Tim Christmore uses a rake to get his canoe through the ice-covered Little Arkansas River in Wichita, Kansas.
Asheville,
North Carolina, should expect a low of 18 degrees on New Year's Eve and
8 degrees on New Year's Day. In Atlanta, the low temperatures will drop
into the 20s on Saturday, Sunday and Monday nights, the weather service said.
But
Georgia was looking at a slight chance of snow in the northern part of
the state on Tuesday night and possibly toward the end of the week.
"It's
going to be slightly cooler than normal and there is a chance of light
wintery precipitation toward the end of the week, but where is
uncertain," Norman said. "And another chance (of snow) to start the new
year."
...And in Europe
There is unsettled weather across Western Europe, said CNN's meteorologist Michael Guy.
In
Britain, snow reduces the M5 motorway down to two lanes between
junction 14 and 15 in South Gloucestershire after snow caused travel
disruptions across parts of the UK.
A strong storm system is currently bringing heavy rain, wind, and
wintry mix from the UK down into parts of France and Spain. The
Netherlands and Belgium will also see heavy rain and winds with this
storm system. The strongest winds will be felt on the border between
France and Spain on Wednesday as the storm moves inland.
In
the UK, thousands of homes were left without power as the wintry
weather swept in overnight. Travelers will face flight delays from the
UK over through the Netherlands down into Spain. Rain and wind will
also impact parts of Italy into today with heavy snows falling in the
Alps.
