US News

Third polar vortex hits with wind chills as low as -15 degrees

For the third time this month, a blast of frigid air will hit the city, giving us temperatures as low as 9 degrees Tuesday — which, thanks to strong winds, will feel like minus-10 to minus-15, forecasters said.

Blame it all (again) on the polar vortex, which gave folks in the Midwest wind-chill factors of minus-40 on Monday.

“The polar vortex has been hanging around southern Canada in recent weeks,” AccuWeather meteorologist Alex Sosnowsky said. “Normally, it likes to hang out around the Arctic Circle.”

That’s one reason, he said, we’ve had recent warmer winters. “But about every 10 years, it goes the other way — and this is a classic example,” Sosnowsky added. “It’s Mother Nature’s way of trying to balance things out.”

The winds will drop sharply on Wednesday, so the forecast late-day high of about 25 will feel only slightly colder.

The thermometer may not go above freezing until Friday, when New York will feel “just about normal” for the end of January, Sosnowsky said. That is, daytimes highs of around 39 degrees and nighttime lows of around 27.

And to answer the big question from Peyton Manning, Richard Sherman, et al, a storm is coming — but the precipitation probably won’t arrive during the Super Bowl and won’t spoil the game.

“It’s not going to be a major, blockbuster storm,” Sosnowsky said. “It could be a wintry mix. It doesn’t look like all snow. It doesn’t look like all rain.”

AccuWeather expects the storm to arrive sometime Saturday, Saturday night or early Sunday, with highs around 38 degrees.