The coldest air we've seen in years has descended upon Northeast Ohio over the last couple of days, and it will be getting even colder tonight.
This has prompted the National Weather Service to issue our first "Extreme Cold Warning" for most of NE Ohio from 7 p.m. Tuesday evening through 10 a.m. Wednesday morning.
The phrase "Extreme Cold Warning" might seem foreign to you, and it is a relatively new addition to the National Weather Service playbook.
Back in October, the National Weather Service issued a press release on streamlining cold alerts as there were alerts for temperatures and wind chills. Now, the alerts are combined.
Now, the alerts cover wind chill and temperature, not just one or the other.
There will be no alerts if temperatures and or wind chills are -14 degrees or higher. There will be a Cold Weather Advisory for temperatures and or wind chills between -15 and -24 degrees. And there will be an Extreme Cold Warning for temperatures and or wind chills -25 degrees or colder.
We are looking at the coldest air in nearly a decade across the region to move in during this evening and into early Wednesday, with many locations well below zero for overnight lows.
With temperatures this cold, it will not take much of a breeze to drop Wind Chills to that -20 to -30 degree range in many areas. Here is a chart of Wind Chill from the National Weather Service and you can see even with a 5 to 10 mph breeze, it will feel much colder on exposed skin. Also, Frostbite can happen in as little as 20 minutes in some cases with temperatures and wind chills this cold!
Air temperatures will be well below zero in many areas and even getting close to record territory. Here's a look at records for Jan. 22 for Cleveland, Akron, Canton and Mansfield.
We have a chance of getting close to these temperatures tonight. So there could be a tied record for tomorrow.
Here are some reminders about how to stay safe in these conditions:
The good news is that once we get through Wednesday, temperatures will begin to warm back into the 20s by Thursday and Friday, and then by the weekend, we will be flirting with 32! A heat wave!
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