National Weather Service issues warning of ‘bitter cold’ across US

The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a warning that a bitter cold arctic blast will move in across the United States over the weekend, adding to an already stormy January across the country.

Arctic temperatures will move in from the West, affecting the northern Rocky Mountains and northern Plains beginning Thursday evening into Friday.

The cold temperatures will move south and east through the Plains and Midwest over the weekend, where temperatures could reach daily cold records in the South-central U.S. on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, the NWS predicted.

Parts of Texas and the interior Southeast could experience wind chills below zero early next week. Over the weekend, wind chills in the Rockies and northern Plains will be below negative 40 degrees.

“This will pose an increased risk of frostbite on exposed skin and hypothermia,” the NWS said in an advisory, adding that if people must travel, they should do so with a cold survival kit.

The cold air will usher in another storm system across the West on Friday. Snow with “considerable impacts” is predicted in Oregon, Idaho, Nevada and Utah.

As the storm system moves east, it will likely bring snow to the interior south through the Mid-Atlantic areas Sunday into Monday, and it has the potential to bring some to the Northeast Tuesday and Wednesday, the NWS predicted.

The polar vortex air typically stays 15 miles to 30 miles above the Earth, but last week there was a minor disruption increasing the chances for cold air outbreaks, Amy Butler, an atmospheric scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told Nexstar, The Hill’s parent company, in a statement.

Blizzard conditions with 6-to-12-inch snowfall totals may be headed for the Midwest, and the Southern U.S. is bracing for potential tornadoes, The Hill previously reported.

The Southwest Power Pool, which oversees electric reliability in 14 states, has declared multiple advisories for energy operators ahead of the storm, which may bring a “higher than normal risk of outages.”