Possible record cold on the way

Very cold and possibly even colder weather is headed this way! That is the headline as we get ready to wrap up 2017.

The cold air floodgates are wide open and we could see some record cold air by the weekend. There have only been 4 times in the last 10 years where Wichita dropped below zero:

• -10 (Dec. 18th, 2016)
• -4 (Dec. 19, 2016)
• -5 (Jan. 6, 2014)
• -1 (Jan. 13, 2011)

This next batch of cold air comes straight from Siberia and because there is quite a bit of snow on the ground between here and there, the air won't be warming up before it arrives. 

Are you ready for this? Look at some of the wind chills we could be dealing with heading into New Years Eve and New Years Day.

And look at these wind chills for New Years Day around Kansas.

There's still no sign of a storm yet, but as the next big surge of bitter cold moves in this weekend, light snow bands may setup across central and northern Kansas. The problem is there isn't much moisture content when temperatures drop so low. One of our computer models is hinting at some 1-3" amounts by Sunday afternoon, but the higher amounts will most likely be somewhat isolated. 

Have a Happy New Year and stay warm. We will see if record lows can be broken this weekend as this next big blast of cold arrives.