Arctic Blast In Central, Eastern US Brings Frigid Wind Chills And Could Flirt With Record Lows

Heavy Rain, Storms Will Slam The South This Weekend

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T​he season's most drastic drop in temperatures has now engulfed the central and eastern states with dangerous wind chills and the arctic air could even topple some record lows.

Extreme c​old warnings and cold weather advisories have been issued: Those alerts, which are issued by the National Weather Service, extend from the Midwest to parts of the South and East.

The temperatures and/or wind chills that are expected or are ongoing in some of these areas could be dangerous, which means you should dress in layers and cover exposed skin. Steps should also be taken to protect water pipes from possibly bursting.

(​MORE: What To Know About Cold Warnings And Advisories)

T​uesday morning, Kansas City and Pueblo, Colorado, both set new daily record lows of minus 8 degrees and minus 19 degrees, respectively.

Wind chills in Duluth, Minnesota, on Tuesday morning dropped as cold as minus 50 degrees.

(​MAPS: Forecast Highs And Lows)

Frigid temperatures continue midweek: The peak of the coldest temperatures through midweek are 20 to 35 degrees below average. Most areas should see the worst of the cold ease up by late this week and over the weekend.

• A​ smattering of daily record lows and record cold high temperatures are possible in parts of the Midwest, South and East through midweek. Locations who received snow will be more likely to see record lows.
• Here are a few of the locations that might approach daily record lows Wednesday morning: C​leveland (minus 10 degrees), Baton Rouge, Louisiana (19 degrees), Lake Charles, Louisiana (15 degrees), and Corpus Christi, Texas (20 degrees).
• The first map below is a look at the forecast lows the next three mornings. While most areas will remain cold, it won't be to the same level experienced in the first half of the week.
• F​orecast highs late this week into the weekend are shown in the second map. It better illustrates the moderating trending in temperatures that most areas will experience.

W​ind chills are dangerous. T​he following map shows the coldest forecast wind chills of the day Wednesday. In most cases, those coldest wind chills occur early in the morning just before sunrise.

• S​ubzero wind chills will grip a broad area of the Plains, Midwest and Great Lakes through Wednesday.
• W​ind chills in the teens and single digits will extend into parts of the South and East.

(​MORE: What The Wind Chill Means And Why They Are Dangerous)

Chris Dolce has been a senior meteorologist with weather.com for over 10 years after beginning his career with The Weather Channel in the early 2000s.