Dangerous Polar Vortex Arctic Cold Takes Hold Across Rhode Island

RHODE ISLAND — Dangerously frigid temperatures will continue to bring the risk of hypothermia, frostbite and frozen pipes across Rhode Island for days after a weekend snow blast that brought 3-to-4 inches of snow across most of the Ocean State.

The fresh snowpack, clear and calm skies at night, and ineffective sunshine, will combine to reinforce polar vortex cold across the region with temperatures struggling to get to 20 degrees on Tuesday and Wednesday, with overnight lows in the single digits and teens and dangerous wind chills.

Temperatures are expected to moderate slightly starting Thursday and heading into the weekend, with more typical mid-winter highs in the 30s.

AccuWeather said the stretch will be the coldest widespread outbreak across the country since December 2022 with "life-threatening" conditions in the northern Plains and Upper Midwest.

It should not be quite that bad across New England — but it will be bitter, with a high of 20 degrees in Providence on Tuesday and 21 on Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.

"This has been a cold month over a large portion of the country, but up until now, the cold has not been extreme over a large part of the country," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist and Northeast U.S. Expert Bob Larson said. "The extreme cold outbreak now arriving adds an exclamation
mark to what has already been a cold month of January, which according to historical average, is on average, the coldest month of the year."

The NWS said winds are expected to switch around to the southwest on Wednesday night, with a more pleasant day on tap for Thursday with highs near 32 degrees and light winds.

Highs are expected to be in the low 30s on Friday and Saturday, and upper 30s on Sunday and Monday.

No significant snowstorms are forecast for the next seven days.

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