Coldest Christmas in decades possible for parts of US: What to expect Christmas Eve

  

 
On Christmas Eve, the wind chill will plunge to minus 10 degrees in New York.

ByEmily Shapiro and Max Golembo
December 21, 2022, 9:55 PM








Dangerous winter weather threatens holiday travel
Airlines are offering waivers for free changes ahead of Thursday and Friday, which are expected...






It's time to bundle up: this could be the coldest Christmas in decades for parts of the country.

Here's the latest forecast:

MORE: Massive storm bringing heavy snow, blizzard conditions: Your holiday forecast

The bitter cold is first hitting Denver, where temperatures will fall from 47 degrees on Wednesday to minus 16 degrees by Thursday morning.

The Denver Coliseum is being converted into a 24/7 warming center.

"This facility will be available to anyone who needs it, including our neighbors experiencing homelessness, the migrants who have recently arrived in our city, and anyone from the general public who needs a safe place to be warm," Mayor Michael Hancock said.

MORE: How to stay safe in cold as frigid temperatures hit

The cold blast will reach the Rio Grande River on Thursday and Friday, bringing the coldest temperatures to the region since the late 1980s. On Friday morning the wind chill -- what temperature it feels like -- will drop to minus 7 degrees in Dallas and 1 degree in Houston.

Up north, the wind chill Friday morning will be a brutal minus 39 degrees in Minneapolis and minus 37 degrees in Chicago.

On Friday night New York City could see a flash freeze, with wet roads turning to ice, because the temperature is forecast to plunge from about 57 degrees to 14 degrees within hours.

The cold air moves east into Christmas weekend.

On Christmas Eve, the wind chill will plunge to a bone-chilling minus 10 degrees in New York, minus 33 degrees in Minneapolis, minus 24 degrees in Chicago and minus 5 degrees in Kansas City.

Even the South will see a below-freezing Christmas. The wind chill is forecast to reach minus 1 degree in Nashville, 4 degrees in Atlanta, 20 degrees in New Orleans and 21 degrees in Dallas.


Saturday wind chill temperatures across the country.
ABC News


The governors of Kentucky and North Carolina have declared states of emergency as residents brace for the cold.