Could January end with an arctic blast?

An arctic blast looming this weekend has the potential to be the most significant winter cooldown for the northern tier of the country since December.

The FOX Forecast Center said a fast-moving storm system will dump a few inches of snow through the Great Lakes into Friday. But starting Saturday, the bottom of the bucket will seemingly plummet on the thermometer, with temperatures of at least 20 degrees below average spanning much of the northern Plains and Upper Midwest.

When the actual temperature is combined with wind, the feels-like temperatures are expected to reach dangerous values between 20 and 30 degrees below zero.

Exposure to subzero wind chills can lead to frostbite that starts within minutes, and in the heart of the weekend’s arctic blast zone, the timing for the onslaught of symptoms may even be less than 60 seconds.

It’s going to be some deep cold that’s going to be settling in through the central Plains,” FOX Weather meteorologist Marissa Torres said. “And just to give you an example of, so this is Saturday morning, we’re looking at Bismarck (North Dakota), 6 below zero. That’s your forecast low. That is not your wind chill; that’s the air temperature.”

Temperatures in dangerously cold territory

Unlike December’s record cold blast that made it all the way to Florida, the latest intrusion of cold air will be limited on how far it sinks to the south.

As the weekend progresses and the final workdays of January begin, cold air is expected to sink into northwestern Texas and the Ohio Valley, but the most dangerous conditions will remain across the northern tier of the country due to a ridge of high pressure over the Southeast.

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Bismarck, North Dakota, is expected to fall below zero on Friday and may not see a temperature in the single digits again until Tuesday.

Many communities in South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska may face a similar fate with temperatures that will hover in dangerously cold territory.

So far, no watches, warnings or advisories have been issued by the National Weather Service, but a Wind Chill Advisory or a Wind Chill Warning may have to be hoisted for counties in the Upper Midwest and Plains as the region gets closer to the impactful event.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center believes the cold air will not significantly impact the Southeast, and the end of January may actually finish slightly warmer than average compared to climatological norms.