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BITTER COLD TARGETS LOWER 48
Updated: Friday, January 09, 2009 2:49 PM

Fairbanks, Alaska, is a mighty cold place in January. The normal daily average temperature this time of year is 10 below zero. Now, try this one on for size. In Fairbanks this month, the average temperature has been 38 degrees below zero! Do the math.

Actually, the cold in Alaska is just part of a mammoth arctic air mass that extends across all of northern Canada. So what will become of this intense cold? Well, here's the bad news. Next week, a broad northwesterly flow from the Arctic all the way to the Gulf of Mexico is going to bring a huge amount of that bitter air down. It's the type of cold that really stings. Later in the week, below zero temperatures are expected from the Midwest to the Northeast.

Chicago will most certainly experience a period when the temperature stays below zero....

Just in case one might think it is only the eastern half of the nation facing this cold advance. It is actually the entire northern third of our planet.

xtnyoda, shalomed