Arctic cold front moving into New England
"Dangerous cold wind chills of 10 to 20 degrees below zero are expected across the region late tonight and Friday."
Those are the opening words of a special weather statement the National Weather Service (NWS) at Taunton posted on their website concerning the weather southern New England can expect during the next 24 to 36 hours.
The NWS said an Arctic cold front will move through the region tonight and send temperatures falling to single digits across most of the region with some near-zero readings in high terrain.
But it is the sustained northwest winds, projected to range from 15 to 30 miles per hour, that are going to produce the dangerous wind chill factor.
Winds chills in most areas are expected to drop to between 10 and 20 below zero tonight and remain well below zero on Friday.
As a result, the NWS is cautioning " exposed skin can suffer from frostbite in a very short time under these wind chills...... so dress adequately. Be sure to wear layered light clothing ... and wear a hat and mittens to protect yourself from the dangers of frostbite."
Similar weather conditions are also forecast for Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.
In Western Massachusetts, where below zero readings are expected, winds chills could be as low as 30 below zero.
Meanwhile, on Cape Cod there is the added problem of ocean effect snow showers. They could persist through Friday evening and may result in several inches of wind-blown snow falling on the outer Cape.
The lengthly Weather Service postings clearly provide the answer to the question sweeping across region earlier this month as to whether Massachusetts would experience any typically cold weather this winter.
In Boston temperatures averaged above 40 for the first eight days of the year, with two days above 60, including a record temperature of 69 for Jan. 6.
Adding further fuel to the discussion was the fact that through the first 24 days on January less than an inch of snow had fallen at Boston's Logan Airport.
One bit of good news is the weather is expected to warm on either Saturday or Sunday.
