Arctic blast to hit Northeast ahead of hectic holiday travel
An arctic blast is hitting the northeastern U.S. with icy and snowy conditions resulting in flight cancelations and delays. The coldest air so far this season is set to hit the East and Northeast this weekend.
Fenway Park near Boston has recorded at least 6 inches of snow while parts of western New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania recorded 1 to 4 inches of snow.
Snow is wrapping up in the Northeast Saturday morning, and an arctic cold blast is next.
Temperatures behind this snow system are plunging. In the last 24 hours, temperatures have fallen 15 to 25 degrees in parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin, and 5 to 15 degrees throughout much of the Midwest. This quick cool down will travel east for Sunday.
That arctic air is traveling over ice-free Great Lake waters and producing lake-effect snow, on Saturday only, for places like Syracuse, New York, where 3 to 5 inches of snow may accumulate.
Morning wind chills will drop to the single digits or below zero for much of the Northeast on Sunday and Monday mornings. Boston will be feeling below zero.
High temperatures will only reach the 20s in New York City on Sunday -- which hasnt happened since mid-January 2024.
As of 6:45 a.m. on Saturday, 130 flights have been cancelled and 830 flights have been delayed nationwide.
JetBlue Airlines leads in cancellations with 46 flights, or 4% of its scheduled flights, cancelled. Ground stops and delays are expected to last at airports throughout the day.
Chicago's O'Hare International Airport issued a ground stop on Friday, pausing departures amid snowy and icy conditions as airports around the country grappled with inclement weather.
The stop came as the clipper system that brought heavy snow and airport delays to the Upper Midwest on Thursday is moving on Friday morning through the Illinois city.
As of 11:30 p.m. ET on Friday, 9,376 flights were delayed nationwide. The day ended with 523 cancellations.
Southwest Airlines lead the cancellations with 113 flights, or 2% of its scheduled flights. Ground stops and delays are expected to continue at airports in impacted areas throughout the night.
The most impacted airports were San Diego International with 157 cancellations and Boston Logan International with 154 cancellations.
Christmas Eve rain or snow in the Northeast?
Another storm system is expected for Christmas Eve in the Northeast, with rain and snow possible.
Rain and snow could fall along the I-95 corridor on Tuesday, Christmas Eve.
With this storm, the highest chance for accumulating snow will be in upstate NY and in New England. It is too early to say how much snow is possible.
An arctic plunge will move into the Northeast this weekend, as temperatures fall into the teens and single digits Saturday night into Sunday.
Wind chills could be below zero for inland areas and in the single digits even for coastal major cities.
Looking ahead, warmer weather is forecast after Christmas for the Northeast and most of eastern U.S.
ABC News' Ayesha Ali contributed to this report.
