While arctic air will dive into the heart of the country late this week, unlike the last cold surge, this time around it’s going all the way to the Atlantic coast and that means the Big Cities.

The last outbreak spared the big cities.

Before the arctic air reaches the coast, later Friday and into Saturday will see a strong cold front swing through the Great Lakes, erasing the mild air which will dominate Wednesday, Thursday where highs will rise 10-20F above normal. With the very cold air sweeping over the still warm lake waters, expect the prime snowbelts of Michigan, Pennsylvania and New York to get their first lake effect snowstorm of the season. A good 3-6 inches is possible with some areas likely to topping a foot. Winds gusting beyond 30 mph with temperatures in the 20s and 30s will certainly be a shocker following the mild weather of late.

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By Saturday the front reaches the Big Cities of the Northeast and along with the cold air’s arrival, may come snow flurries or showers and a sudden temperature drop. Be prepared from DC to Boston, THIS WILL SHOCK THE SYSTEM! A strong, gusty, NW wind with temps dropping into the 20s Saturday night will certainly feel like winter has arrived. WC’s Sunday morning may be in the teens with snow flakes flying.

The high Sunday may not get out of the 20s over the interior Northeast while DC may fail to hit 40, as for Philadelphia, New York up to Boston, winds blowing 10-20 mph out of the NW keeping WC’s in the 20s all day may hold the high at around freezing.

Here’s the ECMWF for Saturday, Sunday!

As for next week, another lobe of arctic air, stronger than this one will come down, may bring even colder air and perhaps even a snowstorm all the way to the big cities next week.

Stay tuned!

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