First things first…welcome to February!  You have officially made it through 2/3rds of meteorological winter!

You will have to forgive me if we don’t hand out participation trophies this year, this winter has really been quite tame.

In a nutshell, January 2023 was excessively mild, wet and cloudy…setting several records along the way in each category.

Snow has also been tough to come by.  Both Boston and Worcester remain more than a foot below the average to date after a scant January.

A quick look ahead to February, on average, our snowiest month on the calendar…

If I were a betting man, I would take the UNDER on the snowfall this month.  The average in Boston being 14.4″, it sure looks warm, at least for the first few weeks (after this weekend).  But, as you know, it only takes one biggie…

Ok, back to the business at hand.  We have a legit, Arctic front headed our way early on Friday.  Behind it, the coldest air not only of this season, but perhaps, in several years or even decades!

Friday will be an upside-down day with the warmest temperatures coming early in the morning, followed by an all-day temperature plunge.

The high temperature for the day on Friday will go into the books somewhere around 32 degrees.  Again, this comes early in the day.  By Noon, the entire area (north of the South Coast) will be in the teens.  

By the evening commute, most of southern New England is in the single digits.  

Overnight, we bottom out with most of the area dipping below 0.

There is potential for actual air temperatures to drop as low as -10 to -20 degrees by Saturday morning.

If the City of Boston were to hit -10, that would be the coldest reading recorded in over 60 years…since January 15, 1957!

The low temperature record for the date on Saturday is -2 degrees (set way back in 1886), I would say odds are very high of beating that.

Combine that with the potential for wind gusts over 20mph early on Saturday and wind chill readings are absolutely ridiculous.  Worst-case scenario, parts of the area north and west of Boston could have feels-like temperatures between -20 and -30 degrees!

During the day Saturday, the winds calm down, but temperatures are only likely to recover into the teens. Easily our coldest day of the season thus far.

Remarkably, the cold will exit as quickly as it arrives!  By Sunday afternoon, temperatures will be back to near or above normal, around 40 degrees.

With cold this severe, there are several things to keep in mind.  Frostbite can form in less than 15 minutes.  If you have to go out early on Saturday, it is better to be prepared than caught off-guard.

There will be wide-ranging impacts from potential damage to fruit trees to pipes bursting.  It would be wise to check the status of your car battery if you are heading out in the core of the cold and also take precautions if your pipes are old or have a history of bursting.

Lastly, this could be a situation ripe for “frost quakes”, otherwise known as “cryoseisms”.  New weather word of the day!   These can feel like mini earthquakes and can often be accompanied by loud boom sounds.  Essentially, the rapidly falling and extreme cold temperatures causes water beneath the ground to freeze.  The new ice expands, putting pressure on the surrounding soil and bedrock.  This CAN lean to frost quakes or cryoseisms!  Nothing to be all that concerned with, but if you hear a boom, now you will know!

Click here for Westford snow storm data and past totals or select “Winter Snowfall“ under “Pages” on the left hand side.

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