Dangerous Wind Chills Continue Tonight Along with Blowing Snow Chances

PRESQUE ISLE, Maine (WAGM) - Good evening everyone on this Friday. After westerly winds picked up through the day today, we’ve seen arctic air make its way into the region, bringing with it nasty wind chills going into this evening. A large area of high pressure is currently sitting off to our west and is expected to move to the southeast overnight tonight and into tomorrow. This will result in an eventual change in wind direction and warmer air working into the region for Sunday. Before we get there, we’ll still have to deal with some of the coldest temperatures we’ve seen in a long time, with record breaking wind chills possible overnight tonight and into tomorrow.

Wind gusts are expected to continue going through the rest of the overnight tonight, gusting between 35 to 45 mph. This will result in blowing snow continuing through the overnight hours and into tomorrow. Wind gusts remain between 30 to 40 mph during the day tomorrow out of the west, before finally tapering off after sunset tomorrow night. Winds will still be strong enough tomorrow night to cause more wind chill concerns but will eventually shift direction and lighten up going into the day Sunday.

Because of the strong winds and blowing snow concerns. The National Weather Service is keeping the Blizzard Warning up through tomorrow evening. Keep in mind snow doesn’t have to be falling from the sky in order to reach blizzard conditions. The national weather service defines a blizzard as seeing winds sustained at or exceeding 35 mph and reduced visibilities under a quarter mile for a 3-hour time period. These conditions have already been met today in caribou and will continue to be met at different times across the county through tomorrow evening.

The cold pool of air continues to sink south tonight, with some of the coldest air expected over the region tonight going into tomorrow morning. By tomorrow afternoon, winds will begin to lighten up, with most spots seeing a change in wind direction as well as lighter winds by the time we get to Sunday morning. Sunday ends up being a lighter wind day, with southerly winds bringing warmer temperatures back into the region. Because of the cold air and the winds, the National Weather Service has also placed the county under a Wind Chill Warning continuing through tomorrow evening. Wind chill warnings are issued when wind chills look to drop below 35 degrees below zero. We look to be well below that in terms of wind chill overnight tonight, and even through most of the day tomorrow. By tomorrow evening, wind chill values will be warm enough to no longer need the warning.

Looking at future wind chills and frostbite times, frostbite times this evening are already around 5 minutes if not under 5 minutes. This bitter cold air continues to sit over the county overnight tonight and into the day tomorrow. Waking up tomorrow morning, wind chills for most spots will still be cold enough that frostbite remains a big concern, with frostbite setting in on any exposed skin in under 5 minutes for most location. We will likely see some improvement tomorrow, as temperatures warm up into the single digits below zero by the afternoon. Wind chills are still expected to be cold, with values remaining between 30 to 40 degrees below zero. Colder wind chills finally begin to taper off by saturday evening, with wind chills in the 20s not warranting a concern for frostbite times.

More details on the forecast can be found in this evening’s Weather on the Web Video Forecast. Stay safe and warm out there!

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