Get ready for cold weather the rest of the week

By Lauren Dezenski, Globe Correspondent

Cold air is expected to blast the Bay State beginning late this afternoon, dropping New Year’s Day’s seasonal temperatures into the teens overnight, forecasters said.

An Artic cold front sweeping East should bring the season’s coldest daytime temperatures on Wednesday, with highs in the upper 20s, said meteorologist Bill Simpson. Highs in the low 20s are possible in Western Massachusetts, he said.

But for most of today, it will be “pretty nice,” Simpson said, with sunshine and highs in the mid 30s.

“[The tempteratures are] actually close to seasonal, but then the temps will be dropping during the mid to late afternoon, and that’s when cold air will start filtering in,” he said.

Simpson said he does not anticipate the cold complicating commutes this week, though the sunshine could create some localized freezing from the snow melt.

There is hope in sight for those weary of winter’s chill: next week, highs are set to hit the low 40s, he said, 10 degrees above average.