Extremely cold temperatures will sweep across Maine as an arctic blast settles across the state Tuesday evening and into Wednesday morning.
Freezing temperatures and windy conditions will drop the wind chill into negative numbers. A wind chill between negative 20 and negative 25 is expected in northern Aroostook County , Somerset and the central and northern regions of Piscataquis County, according to a recent forecast from the Caribou office of the National Weather Service.
Conditions will increase the likelihood that outdoor activity could cause hypothermia or frostbite to set in quickly.
An arctic blast moving in late during the week will bring the coldest air temperatures seen so far this season, and extreme wind chill temperatures are expected. According to forecasters, a west-to-northwest winds of 10 to 20 miles per hour will produce wind chills from negative 20 to negative 30 around the Bangor region and most of the interior regions of Down East Maine.
But those wind chill averages aren’t the coldest temperatures expected through Friday night and Saturday morning will be anticipated negative 40 conditions in the northern regions of Somerset County.
As far as precipitation goes, a covering of 1 to 3 inches of snow is expected to hit the eastern and central regions. The Bangor and northern Penobscot region, as well as the Down East region, could see 2 to 4 inches of snow overnight Tuesday.
The extreme cold will persist through most of the weekend, with negative 35 degree temperatures in northern Aroostook, Piscataquis and Somerset County expected Sunday morning. Negative 30 degree weather could linger through the Penobscot Valley region and the interior Down East.
Looking to the southern regions of the state, south central Maine can expect to see overnight temperatures within the negative 10 to zero degree Fahrenheit range. Western regions, may see overnight temperatures in the negative teens, with Rangeley possibly seeing negative temperatures in the negative 20 range.