Long Johns will be the best gift to give this Valentine’s Day

The coldest air of the season arrives this weekend, featuring wind chill values of possibly up to 20 degrees below zero Saturday night into Sunday, forecasters say.

The cold air is expected to move out rapidly on Monday, with temperatures returning to typical February numbers, whatever that might be.

Upstate New York will be the epicenter of this cold snap.

For more than 100 million people, this will be a serious, albeit short-lived, run in with pure Arctic air.

Wind Chill Watch Late Saturday into Sunday morning.

Meanwhile, the National Weather Service forecast scattered and localized heavy snow showers in Southern New England on Wednesday that could drop another 4 inches of snow, but are more likely to leave behind an inch or so.

All of the N.Y.C.-area airports are expected to bottom out in the low single digits, with Islip and Bridgeport, Conn., forecast to dip into negative territory for the first time in over two decades.

IF Temperature hits -5°: This would be the coldest temperature recorded at TF Green since February of past year (2015).

So far this winter, the warmth has greatly outweighed the cold, which is in keeping with global warming-related trends.

While this cold air outbreak is, in Connecticut NBC TV meteorologist Ryan Hanrahan’s words, “exceptionally impressive”, it may be hard to set a slew of record lows. That should surpass the previous record of two degrees set back in 1916.

Lake Effect Snow Advisories across OH and Western New York. It will feel like it’s in the 20s below zero from New York City to Boston, and 5 to 15 degrees below zero from Washington to Philadelphia. Overnight lows into Sunday morning will drop into the single digits across the Washington region. Frostbite on exposed skin can occur in as little as 10 minutes at those temperatures, according to the National Weather Service.