Frozen in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut but not for long
AccuWeather forecast for NYC, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut
NEW YORK (WABC) -- The Arctic air that descended on the Northeast on Saturday brought dangerously cold sub-zero temperatures and wind chills to the region, including a record-setting wind chill of minus 108 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 78 C) on the summit of Mount Washington in New Hampshire.
In addition to the U.S. record low wind chill, the Mount Washington Observatory at the peak of the Northeast's highest mountain, famous for its extreme weather conditions, recorded an actual temperature of minus 47 (minus 44 C), tying an observatory record set in 1934.
Across the rest of the region, wind chills - the combined effect of wind and cold air on exposed skin - dropped to minus 45 to minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 43 to minus 45 C), according to the National Weather Service.
The current method used to measure wind chill has been used since 2001.
"This is just kind of an Arctic intrusion," said Stephen Baron, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray, Maine. "Sometimes in the winter the Jetstream dips and the Arctic oscillation allows the cold air to come into our area for a day or two."
The National Weather Services says records were broken or matched at JFK (4F), LaGuardia (5F), Bridgeport (-4F), Newark (5F), Providence, RI (-9F), Hartford (-9F), Boston (-10F), and Worcester (-13F).
Central Park, the oldest weather station with the most climate data, did not reach a record when it hit 3 degrees on Saturday morning. The daily record remains 0 from 1886/1918.
In New York's Adirondack Mountains, Old Forge recorded a temperature early Saturday of minues 36 degrees. Temperatures plunged into the negative teens in dozens of other cities and towns, with wind chill making it feel even colder.
Mackenzie Glasser, owner of Ozzie's Coffee Bar in Old Forge, said frigid temperatures are just part of living in the Adirondacks.
"I even had customers for the first hour that I was open, and I wasn't expecting that at 7 a.m. So I don't think it's keeping too many people away," she said.
The good news is that the cold air is expected to move out of much of the region by Sunday, when AccuWeather says temperatures could rise to the 40s.
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The Associated Press contributed to this story
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