Well it looks like were quickly heading towards our coldest weather for this year so far. At our coldest we should be around 5°F as a stable, cold, dry air mass positions itself over the area. With temperatures today topping around 35 °F and melting some of the snow that fell Wednesday night/Thursday morning. With the temperatures being so cold this cold lead to flash freezing for any leftover liquid still on surfaces. Flash freezing occurs when snow or rain falls, then followed by a sharp fall in temperatures in a short time span to temperatures well below freezing.
Another thing to be aware for tonight into Friday is the wind chill factor. Most of the time these sharp temperature drops can bring windy conditions with the cold as a cold dry air mass advances taking the place of a mild wet air mass. With wind chills tonight expected to be around 15 mph with gusts up to 20 mph will only make it feel colder than 5 °F on exposed skin. The wind chill is the temperature that your skin feels. For example for tomorrow morning’s low of 5 °F will be accompanied with a 10 mph wind, producing a wind chill factor of -9 °F. Making it a good reason to make sure you stay out of the cold for extended periods and if you have to, bundle up so you can protect exposed skin. Wind chills this low can cause frost bite on exposed skin in about 30 minutes. Just making it that more important to wear hat and gloves in cold and windy conditions like this.
-CWS Forecaster: Ben Waggoner
