WEEKEND WEATHER: Some of the Coldest Weather Of the Season

The weather this week in the Hudson Valley has been fairly quiet, with temperatures around normal for this time of year. As a matter of fact, most of January has been relatively mild across the area. That is all about to change, as bitterly cold Arctic air is expected to push far south, giving the region some of its coldest weather so far this winter. To add to the plummeting temperatures, winds will be gusty over the weekend which will drop wind chills down near zero degrees. Ready for some real winter?

Highs Friday will stay in the 30s, with a mixture of sun and clouds. Friday night will be quite cold, with lows in the upper 10s to low 20s, and mostly cloudy skies. Then, the winds are expected to pick up. Saturday will be very cold, with highs only in the mid 20s through the day. Skies will be mostly cloudy, as winds could reach gusts near 30 M.P.H., dropping the wind chill factor down in the teens. Saturday evening will see lows in the 10s, with continued gusty winds through the night. Wind chills could be down near zero in some areas, to even -10 in the Catskills and higher elevations.

Sunday will be slightly warmer, with highs around 30 degrees and a mixture of sun and clouds. Wind chills will once again stay very cold, as winds will continue to be quite gusty across the area. Skies will be partly cloudy Sunday night with lows in the upper 10s.

Meteorologists are watching a weather pattern for next week that will keep temperatures very cold in the Hudson Valley, and even bring the chance for snow on more than one occasion. Hudson Valley Weather says that the first storm front comes by Monday and Tuesday, though other factors could keep the system either up north in Canada or south towards the Mid-Atlantic. This is another case of many different computerized weather models generating multiple scenarios. One scenario has the system push through the northeast and the Hudson Valley.

This could be the first of several storm systems, as some models predict a better chance for more significant snow by late next week and into early February. These storms could bring heavier snow, according to Hudson Valley Weather, but it is still too far off to accurately predict.

One thing that snow storms need is consistently colder weather, and we're already seeing the temperatures drop late this week. This will last through the weekend, and into next week, which will keep the air cold enough for snow to stick. Some meteorologists had predicted a split in the Polar Vortex several weeks ago, which would plunge Arctic air into the U.S. This could aid in a more active storm pattern through the next few weeks, bringing an end to a calm period of weather.