News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Expect temperatures Thursday night to fall some 40 degrees as some of the coldest air in years plunges south.
Staff Meteorologist Rob Carolan said the Upper Cumberland will likely see wind chill temperatures between 15 and 20 degrees below zero.
“It is really an impressive air mass that’s going to be working its way in,” Carolan said. “It’s actually moving more south than it is east, so the core of the cold air is actually going to come through our region. That’s one of the reasons we expect temperatures to stay below freezing.”
Carolan said the region will be below freezing for some 90 hours. The pattern breaks next week with temperatures increasing to above average.
“For some of the country, this is going to be the coldest Christmas weekend in about 40 years. It is an impressive air mass that we started watching last week. That air has now moved into northern Montana and Northwestern North Dakota,” Carolan said. “This morning Havre, Montana was 22 degrees below zero with wind chills of 46 below, and that air is heading southward and it will be arriving across the area tomorrow afternoon and tomorrow evening.”
Carolan said the sharp change in temperatures means road conditions will be very slick late Thursday evening. Carolan said the mild weather ahead of the system has raised pavement temperatures. Carolan said initial snow flakes that fall will melt on road surfaces but then freeze.
“Anytime after about six or seven o’clock, it’s going to become very slick even though we are not picking up much in the way of snowfall,” Carolan said. “Maybe an inch at the most.”
Carolan said the wind that comes with the polar air creates danger when exposed. Carolan said adding the wind to low temperatures basically strips the heat away from your body. Carolan said you will want to make sure your extremities are covered.
