Cold Front Bringing Arctic Air and Frigid Temps Moving Offshore, Quieter Weather Pattern Ahead

Temperatures plunged to minus 20 or below across the northern plains on Sunday morning as a cold front clearing moving offshore brought a fresh surge of extremely cold Arctic air. The front is expected to clear by Sunday evening and give way to a quieter weather pattern but not before bone-chilling temperatures can invade the eastern seaboard. Even though the front will clear by Sunday evening, forecasters warn that "very cold weather" is expected in the Great Lakes, Ohio Valley and New England through Monday and Tuesday.

The brutal Arctic air has brought temperatures to record lows across the country in the past two days. In Bismarck, North Dakota, a new record was set for the lowest temperature on Dec. 17, when it reached 31 below zero. The previous record had been 27 below zero, set in 1975. For Dec. 18, the lowest temperature recorded in Bismarck is 36 below zero, recorded in 1951. This morning, the low so far was 30 below zero.

The Chicago area has seen bone chilling temperatures, and Sunday's Chicago Bears-Green Bay Packers game may go down as the coldest Chicago game in NFL history. A wind chill advisory is in effect for the area until 10 a.m. Monday.

Over the last two days, parts of Colorado got more than 20 inches of snow, and record low temperatures were recorded across the northern part of the state. Dry and warmer weather was forecast for Sunday with wind gusts up to 30 miles per hour causing areas of blowing and drifting snow.

The weather wreaked havoc across the eastern U.S. An oil truck slid off an icy Baltimore highway, causing an explosion and a major vehicle pileup that left two people dead. At least two other fatal crashed were reported in the area. Authorities from Maryland to New Jersey and Connecticut responded to hundreds of weather-related crashes.

The front is also expected to clear the Gulf Coast, but it will not affect Southern Florida. Once the front clears, there is expected to be much less precipitation than what the country has seen in the past few days.

Photo by Costel Slincu via Flickr