Name: Brutal Arctic blast grips Midwest and Northeast as temperatures plummet
Uploaded: 2025-12-05T01:57:36.049Z
Duration: 3 min 4 s
Description: An early season Arctic blast sent shivers through the Midwest and Northeast as temperatures tumbled far below normal. Lana Zak reports and Lonnie Quinn has the forecast.

An early season Arctic blast sent shivers through the Midwest and Northeast as temperatures tumbled far below normal. Lana Zak reports and Lonnie Quinn has the forecast.

Chicago

An early season Arctic blast has sent temperatures plummeting across the Midwest and Northeast United States, with some areas experiencing record lows. Cities such as Aberdeen, South Dakota, and Sioux City, Iowa, have seen temperatures drop to negative 18 and minus 10 degrees, respectively, breaking century-old records. The cold has created hazardous conditions, with fog rising off Lake Superior and residents in cities like Chicago and New York bundling up against the bitter chill.

The frigid weather has also raised concerns about rising heating costs, with local nonprofits in Iowa reporting hundreds of families already struggling to pay utility bills. Forecasts indicate that the cold will persist, with New York City expected to drop to 19 degrees and wind chills making it feel even colder. Snow is also predicted for parts of Virginia and Washington, D.C., as the system moves east, though a slight warming trend is expected by the weekend.

Brutal Arctic blast grips Midwest and Northeast as temperatures plummet

We turn now to the earth and the mercury, because in much of our part of the earth, the mercury is dropping and rapidly. Yes, winter is knocking at the door, and if you open it, better be dressed warmly. It is dangerously cold in the Midwest and the Northeast. Lana Zak is in Iowa. An early season arctic blast sent shivers through the Midwest and Northeast as temperatures tumbled far below normal. What's it feel like outside? It's quite cold. Bitter cold caused fog to rise off the waters of Lake Superior in Duluth, Minnesota. I'm cold. I'm literally cold. While temperatures in the windy city dropped to a balmy seven degrees. And in the Big Apple, people bundled up before going out. Across the plains, temperatures plummeted to record lows, negative 18 degrees in Aberdeen, South Dakota and minus 10 in Sioux City, Iowa, breaking a century old record. I just sleep in the driver's seat, and Frankie sleeps usually right on my lap. Jimmy Tagg lives in his car in Iowa City, where temperatures fell to the single digits. Thank you. He relies on the local community center and his pup to stay warm. What is it like for you to live in your car in the wintertime? It's rough. You do everything you can and you try to prepare and stay positive, you know, and pray a lot. Whether this cold this early has many people concerned about those rising heating costs as well. One local nonprofit leader I spoke with says she has a list of 700 families that are already struggling to pay their utility bills. Lana Zak in Iowa. Thank you, Lana. Lani Quinn is on the roof of the CBS Broadcast Center here in New York. But the mercury is about to head into the basement. Lonnie, what do you know? The roof to the basement. John, you're writing your own material now. This is good stuff here. All right. Weather wise, we are going to get real cold even here in New York City. Not today. You take a look at the city behind me. We max out at 41 degrees. That's cold for us. I mean, the average is about 48 degrees, but it's not outrageous. Tomorrow, you could be dealing with some outrageously cold temperatures and wind chills in New York City. Take a look at the numbers. This Arctic air mass moves in New York City. So far this season, our coldest reading has been 31 in the city itself. Tomorrow, New York City is 19. The wind chill makes it feel like 13. Look at Bangor, Maine. One degree feeling like 11 below zero. Nobody on this map, with the exception of maybe Washington, D.C., gets above the freezing mark. D.C., you will hit 34 degrees. So you're just barely above it. Now, there's a nice wind gust right there. But D.C. is also under a winter weather advisory, perhaps anywhere from a trace to maybe up to an inch of snow in the nation's capital. Virginia, maybe two to four inches of snow. If you look at the system right now on the radar picture, all right, it's going to be pushing to the east. And really, it's the morning hours that are the messiest, with the rain snow line setting up somewhere around the Virginia-North Carolina border. It's rain south, snow north. It then pushes into the ocean. And really, by the time you get to the weekend, everybody I just talked about, it's still cold, but you're maybe five to 10 degrees milder for the weekend. Guys, it's all yours.

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