Arctic Blast Hits Central, Eastern US with Snow and Cold

A powerful Arctic blast is poised to sweep across the central and eastern United States starting this weekend, plunging temperatures 10 to 25 degrees below seasonal averages and bringing the first significant snow of the season to northern regions. The cold surge, affecting more than 100 million people from the Plains to the Southeast and as far south as Florida, will peak on Monday and Tuesday before easing midweek.

Meteorologists at the Weather Prediction Center and AccuWeather forecast the frigid air mass originating from Canada will first impact the northern Plains and Midwest on Friday and Saturday, then push eastward. Brian Hurley, a meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center, noted that temperatures in northern North Dakota already dipped below zero on Sunday, with the chill spreading rapidly. "The cold air is going to continue to filter across the central part of the United States today," Hurley said. "Then tonight, and then on Monday, many areas in the Eastern part of the United States are really going to feel the effects."

In the Midwest and Great Lakes, daytime highs will hover in the 30s, particularly in Chicago, Milwaukee and Detroit, where wet snow and...