Feb. 5, 2026, 2:45 p.m. ET
This year’s relentless winter in the East is about to unleash its most savage cold outbreak yet.
“A brutally cold weekend awaits more than 100 million people in the northeastern quarter of the nation as Arctic air lunges southward straight from eastern Canada,” AccuWeather senior meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said in an online forecast.
Temperatures will drop into the single digits or below zero across much of the Northeast, AccuWeather predicts. Dozens of daily record cold temperatures will be in jeopardy both on Saturday, Feb. 7 and Sunday, Feb. 8, according to Weather.com.
“This weekend could feature the coldest air of the whole winter in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic,” said Washington Post meteorologist Ben Noll on X.
Extreme cold and ‘dangerous’ wind chills likely
The “significant Arctic outbreak will bring frigid temperatures and dangerously cold wind chills to the Northeast and the Mid-Atlantic this weekend (Feb. 7-8),” according to a forecast from NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center.
The coldest wind chills in the minus-30s are forecast across the interior Northeast and New England. Frigid daytime temperatures will struggle to rise above the teens and single digits.
Damaging winds and snow squall potential
Strong winds, potentially gusting over 50 mph, will not only exacerbate the dangerous widespread below-zero wind chills, but also potentially produce isolated tree damage and power outages, the Weather Prediction Center said. This would most likely occur across the southern and central Appalachians, Mid-Atlantic and Interior Northeast.
Brief periods of intense snowfall, including snow squalls and blowing snow, are also possible with the arrival of the cold air on Friday, Feb. 6 and Saturday, Feb. 7.
Cold weather safety
These wind chills will pose a life-threatening risk of hypothermia and frostbite to exposed skin. Here’s what NOAA suggests:
- Have a cold-weather survival kit if traveling.
- Limit time outdoors and cover exposed skin if outside.
- Ensure pets and livestock have adequate protection from the cold.
- Take steps to prevent frozen pipes, and avoid walking on frozen bodies of water where ice thickness is uncertain.
Is it the polar vortex?
Yes, a lobe of the polar vortex at lower levels of the atmosphere (known as the “tropospheric polar vortex”) is responsible for this intense cold, noted Weather Trader meteorologist Ryan Maue in an e-mail to USA TODAY.
Any relief on the way?
Some milder, or at least less cold, air is coming to the East, but it may take until late next week to arrive, Weather.com predicts. “Relief from this cold and a warming trend is forecast to commence by the middle of next week,” the Weather Prediction Center said.