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Philadelphia Weather: Polar Vortex Makes Philly Feel Like The Frozen Tundra

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PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Extreme cold has been the talk around the water cooler in many places the last few days, thanks to the re-emergence of the dreaded polar vortex. Temperatures across the Midwest have plummeted to record-breaking levels and extremely dangerous wind chills have made the situation in places like Chicago and Minneapolis very dire for residents in those cities. While the extreme cold from the Arctic blast will drop our temperatures today across the Delaware Valley, the good news is that at least we will not be dealing with the over-the-top cold like the Midwest is getting this week.

Philadelphia Weather: Region To Get Taste Of Record-Breaking Cold That Has Chicago In Deep Freeze 

We started out our cold spell last night when we broke a record low temperature for Wednesday. At 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, we dipped all the way down to 7 degrees. This broke the old record of 8 degrees that was set 71 years ago in 1948. Eventually, temperatures in Philly bottomed out at 6 degrees, Allentown and parts of the Lehigh Valley dropped to around minus-3 degrees and the Poconos even feel to as low as minus-10 before we finally started to warm up after the sun rose. When you added in the wind, it felt as low as minus-10 to minus-35 from Philly and the suburbs, all the way into the high elevations of the Poconos. As stated though temperatures are slowly rising but do not be fooled by the sun, it will still be extremely cold today across the whole region and we should remain that way through Friday before we eventually start to warm up over the weekend.

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Before that weekend warm-up though, be prepared for the chance for record cold on Thursday afternoon. High temperatures today in the Philly area are likely to stay in the teens and with a forecast high temperature of only 17 degrees. This would break the record cold high temperature for the day in Philly. The previous record cold high for today was 21 degrees set in 1935.

The cold should hang on for one more day on Friday with high temperatures again sitting in the teens and 20s across the region. We should also be on the lookout for a snow shower to pop up as well, as a weak disturbance slides across the region. The best chance for snow tomorrow will be for the city and the western suburbs and then south across South Jersey and parts of Delaware. We are looking at limited accumulations at best, with many areas receiving just a dusting, but very localized spots across South Jersey could receive up to half-inch.

Temperatures will warm over the weekend, all the way into the 40s by Sunday afternoon.

Stay warm out there everyone!

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