Enjoy the mild weather while it lasts – which won’t be for long.
The scary-sounding “polar vortex” – a fast-moving whirlpool of frigid air – is turning much of the US into an ice box, and will send temperatures in New York City plunging from near 50 Monday morning to single digits by the same time Tuesday.
“A blast of arctic air will turn wet roads and sidewalks to ice through Monday night,” said meteorologist Michael Doll on AccuWeather.com.
“Temperatures will begin to fall once the front moves through and continue to drop through Monday night.”
By daybreak Tuesday, the thermometer will dip as low as 5 degrees in and around the five boroughs, with wind chills at minus 15 or colder.
That predicted 5-degree low would break the record of 6 — which was set in 1896.
Even with most roads in the metropolitan area cleared of snow, travelling will be treacherous, with strong winds and remaining patches of black ice.
Airport delays are likely at Kennedy, Newark and LaGuardia as well as from Washington, D.C. to Boston due to lingering fog and rain before the deep freeze sets in.
Temperatures in the tri-state area will dip to the 30s by the evening rush, and then keep dropping overnight with the coldest conditions coming during the morning commute Tuesday, AccuWeather said.
It will be sunny but freezing through most of the day, with the thermometer topping off at about 13 degrees before slowing rising into the mid-20s on Wednesday.
But New York’s low will seem balmy compared to other parts of the US, where the vortex was expected to break decades-old low-temperature and wind chill records from Montana to Alabama.
The predictions are bone-chilling: 32 below zero in Fargo, N.D.; minus 21 in Madison, Wis.; and 15 below in Minneapolis, Indianapolis and Chicago.
Wind chills — what it feels like outside when high winds are factored into the temperature — could drop into the minus 50s and 60s.
“It’s just a dangerous cold,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Butch Dye in Missouri.
It hasn’t been this cold for almost two decades in many parts of the country. Frostbite and hypothermia can set in quickly at 15 to 30 below zero.
Many cities hit by the vortex came to a virtual standstill Sunday and Monday.
School was called off Monday for the entire state of Minnesota, as well as cities and districts in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Iowa, among others.
Chicago Public School officials reversed an earlier decision to keep schools open, announcing late in the day Sunday that classes would be canceled Monday.
Even Southern states were bracing for possible records, with single-digit highs expected Tuesday in Georgia and Alabama.
Sunday’s New York temps were in the relatively mild 30s, but icy rain made walking and driving an adventure.
A six-car pileup on the Staten Island Expressway closed the highway for about two hours.
The 9 a.m. smashup, which was blamed on icy conditions, sent one person to the hospital with minor injuries.
On Sunday, 141 flights to and from JFK were canceled. There were 162 cancellations at La Guardia, and another 158 at Newark International.
The 9 a.m. smashup, which was blamed on icy conditions, sent one person to the hospital with minor injuries.
On Sunday, 141 flights to and from JFK were canceled. There were 162 cancellations at La Guardia, and another 158 at Newark International.
The extremely frigid air stretched from Alaska all the way to Texas.
In some cities, including Minneapolis, the wind-chill factor was set to be about 55 below zero.
With temperatures so low, people were urged to stay inside and if they must go out to dress as warmly as possible.
“That’s dangerously cold,” Bowers said of the Midwest temps.
“You can’t stand in that with exposed flesh for even 30 seconds without it starting to freeze.”
School was called off Monday for the entire state of Minnesota, as well as cities and districts in Wisconsin, Illinois Indiana and Iowa.
Chicago officials said school would be in session for the nation’s third-largest district, although absences would be excused.
Staying inside wasn’t a viable option for some diehard football fans on Sunday.
At Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis., the Packers lost to the San Francisco 49ers in one of the coldest games in NFL history.
“We suited up, we brought all the snowboarding gear we use . . . and added to it,” said 49ers fan Jeff Giardinelli in the near-0 temps.
“Without the wind, which isn’t here yet, we’re good. When it gets windy, we’ll be ready for it.”
Game-time temperature was about 5 degrees with a bitter wild chill of 17 below zero.
The lows dropped to a teeth-chattering reading of minus-24 overnight.
In addition to the cold, several Midwestern states received up to a foot of new snow Sunday.
Five to 9 inches fell in the Chicago area by Sunday afternoon; the St. Louis area had about a foot of snow, and northern Indiana at least 8 inches.
Central Illinois braced for 8 to 10 inches, and southern Michigan could see up to 15 inches.