The first arctic outbreak of the season is allowing temperatures to plunge across the eastern half of the country, creating “dangerously cold” wind chills of 15-30 degrees below zero in the northern Plains and Upper Midwest.
As the Thanksgiving Day winter storm exits the Northeast, it is pulling in arctic air from Canada and allowing the cold air to travel as far away as the Southeast.
On Black Friday, well over 200 million Americans are expected to experience below-average temperatures.
According to NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center, wind chills should fall well below zero across the northern Plains and Upper Midwest.
Areas of the Dakotas and Minnesota will see dangerously cold temperatures that could cause hypothermia and frostbite if unprotected skin is exposed. Some areas will drop to between -30 and -40 degrees when factoring in the wind chill.