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Worst cold of winter invades Northeast, life-threatening arctic wind-chills continue across I-95 corridor
NEW YORK – Life-threatening cold has settled in across the Northeast and New England this weekend, with many places seeing dangerous wind chill temperatures between -10 and -30 degrees below zero.
The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued rare Extreme Cold Warnings for more than 43 million people through Sunday evening, including the major metro areas of Philadelphia and New York City.
What Are Cold Weather Alerts?
Amid a winter of relentless arctic conditions, this weekend’s freeze is expected to be the most powerful polar punch of the season thus far.
The wind chill will be the main driver of the freezing conditions as powerful winds out of the Northwest will usher in air associated with the polar vortex across the Northeast and into the densely populated metro areas of the Interstate 95 corridor.
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“The last time [New York City] had a warning issued similar to what we have this morning was in 2004,” FOX Weather Meteorologist Stephen Morgan said Friday.
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.
Municipal leaders are encouraging people to take proper precautions.
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New York City’s Emergency Operations Center has been active since January’s historic winter storm.
“We are prepared,” Christina Farrell, the first deputy commissioner of New York City’s Emergency Management Agency told FOX Weather Friday.
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“There could be power outages, there could be water main breaks. Sometimes, if people don’t have heat, we see fires,” Farrell said.
HOBOKEN, NJ – JANUARY 26: A person jogs along a snow-covered walkway in front of the skyline of lower Manhattan and One World Trade Center in New York City on January 26, 2026, in Hoboken, New Jersey.
Farrell added that the city is responding aggressively to wellness calls, alerting officials to people in need of shelter.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Wednesday that at least 13 people have died since January due, in part, to hypothermia.
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Warming shelters are open from Boston to Philadelphia and Washington, DC, as well.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu issued a cold weather emergency for the city starting Saturday and lasting through Monday.
A cold front moved across New England, the Northeast and the Interstate 95 corridor on Saturday morning.
The front comes on the heels of a fast-moving clipper system that brought a dusting of snow to the region.
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The clipper’s proximity to the coast as it exited helped drive the strong winds behind it, as cold air rushed in to fill the vacuum.
The freeze intensified Sunday morning as wind chills plummet into the negative teens for millions in Philadelphia, New York City and Boston.
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It will be even colder across parts of the interior, including New York’s capital region. Albany could see wind chills lower than -23 degrees.
Temperatures will barely budge throughout the day as New Englanders and other NFL fans head out to watch the big football game.
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.
Winds gusts between 40 and 50 mph continue through Sunday as the region remains squeezed between the coastal low and the inland high pressure.
When factoring in the wind, wind chill values will easily fall to -10 to -30 degrees below zero.
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The FOX Forecast Center said anyone without power will be particularly susceptible to cold weather risks should any outages persist. Parts of North Carolina and Virginia saw power outages on Saturday.
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.
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From arctic blast to bone-chilling temperatures — meteorologists and residents across the Northeast are running out of adjectives to describe winter’s death-grip over the region this season.
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.
Original article source: Worst cold of winter invades Northeast, life-threatening arctic wind-chills continue across I-95 corridor