Millions of Americans across the Northeast were warned by forecasters to prepare this weekend for some of the coldest temperatures in two decades.
The dangerously bitter conditions are expected to come on the back of yet another winter storm bringing more snow, ice, and high winds across the Northeast beginning Saturday.
The cold will start to creep in early Friday, according to The Weather Channel, and the mercury is expected to plummet until it hits the low single digits in New York City early on Monday. With the windchill forecast between -15 F and -30 F, it is set to be "one of the coldest air masses we have seen in the Northeast in 20 years," according to Weather Channel senior meteorologist Michael Palmer.
Boston, which has been buried by a series of snowstorms in recent weeks, is set to dip below zero early Monday, and there is an "outside chance" the same will happen in New York for the first time since 1994.
"Stepping outside, it will be quite a shock to the system," Palmer warned. "A lot of people will have never experienced cold that bad, especially in an urban heat island like New York City."
The blast of cold air will be riding on the back of a weekend storm expected to impact from Maine to Philadelphia and as far west as the Great Lakes and Ohio.
Starting Saturday, parts of northern New England could see more than a foot of snow through Monday evening. Boston, whose recent winter weather has been "virtually unprecedented in modern times" according to The Weather Channel, could be in for more than six inches.
"It's going to be a pretty significant storm," Palmer said.
High winds could damage buildings and power lines across coastal Main and Massachusetts, roads conditions are set to deteriorate, and airport cancellations are likely in the region, The Weather Channel said.
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