NYC, Northeast bracing for ‘dangerous’ polar vortex, sub-zero temperatures

Time to dust off those hats and scarves, New Yorkers!

Temperatures will plummet to the teens and single digits in the Big Apple this weekend, with sub-zero wind chills expected Friday night as part of an Arctic air mass that will pummel the Northeast with some of the coldest air it’s seen in five years.

Upstate New York and New England will see wind chills between negative 40 and negative 50 degrees thanks to a polar vortex descending from the northwest.

“We are going to end up getting a huge dip in the jet stream that is going to end up unlocking all of that cold air from Canada,” said Fox Weather meteorologist Jason Frazer . “This is going to be dangerous weather.”

The bone-chilling weather, which comes just a week after record-high monthly temperatures were recorded in Central Park , will move into the New York metro area from the Midwest beginning on Friday when temperatures will drop to single-digit lows.

The worst of the cold will be felt on Saturday morning as temperatures drop between negative 20 and single digits above and below zero, according to Fox Weather. Record lows windchill of negative 30 degrees could be seen in Boston, Providence, Rhode Island, and Bridgeport, Connecticut.

New York City may see windchills between negative 10 and negative 20.

Snow squalls are expected to dump a half-inch to an inch of snow and rapidly dropping visibility along the edge of the cold air, according to Fox Weather.

Wind gusts could reach 45 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service , which warned that hypothermia is possible “if proper precautions are not taken.” Frostbite can occur in as little as 15 to 30 minutes on exposed skin, NWS said.

The frigid weather will be short-lived, though, as temperatures will rise to the mid-40s on Sunday.

In Boston, schools will be closed Friday after Mayor Michelle Wu declared a cold emergency ahead of the extreme weather, WCVB reported . Warming centers will be open throughout the city, officials said.

In northern Maine, where there is already deep, fresh snow on the ground, blustering winds could create a “ground blizzard,” affecting visibility, according to Fox Weather.