Amid a winter of relentless Arctic conditions, the most powerful polar punch of the season is expected this week across the Northeast, with dangerous wind chill temperatures approaching 25 degrees below zero in some places. Powerful winds of the northwest will usher in air associated with the polar vortex. National Weather Service (NWS) offices are keeping a close eye on the weather setup and could issue Extreme Cold Warnings — rarely seen in the Northeast.
NEW YORK – Amid a winter of relentless Arctic conditions, the most powerful polar punch of the season is expected this week across the Northeast, with dangerous wind chill temperatures approaching 25 degrees below zero in some places.
Powerful winds of the northwest will usher in air associated with the polar vortex to the densely populated metro areas of Boston, New York and Philadelphia.
National Weather Service (NWS) offices are keeping a close eye on the weather setup and could issue Extreme Cold Warnings — rarely seen in the Northeast.
WHAT ARE COLD WEATHER ALERTS?
Neck Bay frozen over in Bayside, Queens, on Feb. 2, 2026.
(Judi Fitzgerald)
Scituate, MA – February 1: A person shovels plowed snow out of their driveway on February 1, 2026. (Photo by Finn Gomez/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
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A person crosses the street in Copley Square during a snowstorm in Boston, Massachusetts, on January 25, 2026.
(Joseph Prezioso / AFP via Getty Images)
FILE – Boston, MA – January 17: A commuter is bundled for the cold outside South Station.
((Photo by Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via Getty Images))
FILE – PHILADELPHIA, PA – JANUARY 27: A general view of the exterior of Citizens Bank Park with snow during stadium shoot at Citizens Bank Park on Tuesday, January 27, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
((Photo by Denis Kennedy/MLB Photos via Getty Images))
FILE – The ice-covered Ohio River in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US, on Monday, Jan. 26, 2026.
(Photographer: Justin Merriman/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
U.S. Coast Guard cutters are busy trying to keep New York’s iced-over waterways moving, including freeing an NYPD Harbor Unit vessel that was beset by ice floes Tuesday.
(U.S. Coast Guard Northeast/Facebook)
People walk in the snow in Central Park in New York City on December 27, 2025. New York City received around 4 inches (10 centimeters) of snow overnight. Airlines canceled 1,500 US flights during the peak holiday travel period Friday, with severe winter storm warnings and heavy snow forecast across parts of the Midwest and northeast. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP via Getty Images)
(Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP via Getty Images)
Frostbite can set in on open skin within just a few minutes and prolonged exposure to these temperatures could be life-threatening, according to the NWS.
WHAT IS FROSTBITE?
A cold front will move across New England, the Northeast and reach the Interstate 95 corridor by Saturday morning, accompanied by wind gusts up to 30 mph.
(FOX Weather)
The front comes on the heels of a fast-moving clipper system that will bring a dusting of snow and could create brief periods of whiteout driving conditions for the region on Friday.
NEXT ROUND OF SNOW BEGINS ACROSS WINTER-WEARY EAST, LATE-WEEK STORM COULD CAUSE TRAVEL TROUBLE
The closer the clipper stays to the coast as it exits, the stronger the winds behind them will be, as cold air rushes in to fill that vacuum.
(FOX Weather)
The freeze will intensify into Sunday morning as wind chills could easily plummet into the negative teens for millions in Philadelphia, New York City and Boston.
WHAT IS AN ALBERTA CLIPPER, MANITOBA MAULER, SASKATCHEWAN SCREAMER?
It will be even colder across parts of the interior, including New York’s Capital region. Albany could see wind chills lower than minus 23 degrees.
Temperatures will barely budge throughout the day as New Englanders and other NFL fans head out to watch the big football game.
(FOX Weather)
Life-threatening cold is expected to last through Monday before beginning to moderate somewhat by midweek.
The rounds of Arctic air this winter have kept many cooped up inside and frozen mountains of snow leftover from January’s deadly and historic cross-country winter storm.
From arctic blast to bone-chilling temperatures — or even meat-locker cold, meteorologists and residents across the Northeast are running out of adjectives to describe winter’s death-grip over the region this season.
A man clears newly fallen snow with a snowblower on Winter Street in Montpelier, Vermont, after a major winter storm dumped more than a foot of snow on the capital of Vermont on Jan. 26, 2026.
( (Photo by: John Lazenby/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) / Getty Images)
Fortunately, a measure of relief is finally on the way later this month due to a major change in the weather pattern.
A shift in the jet stream will shield the East from the worst of the polar vortex, which will retreat farther north than earlier projections.
