Residents of Massachusetts are waking up to icy cold temperatures on Wednesday, with gusting winds pushing feels-like temperatures into the low single digits across much of the state — with some areas are seeing wind chills at or below zero.
As of about 6 a.m. Wednesday, wind chill values in Boston, Worcester and Springfield were sitting at 3, zero and 2, respectively, according to the National Weather Service. It was even colder in the Berkshires, with Pittsfield experiencing a wind chill of about minus four.
The cold won’t relent on Wednesday. Wind chills in Boston, Worcester and Springfield are not expected to make it out of the single digits. In Pittsfield, wind chills are set to remain below zero throughout the day.
Forecasters set down a Wind Advisory covering parts of Central and Western Massachusetts, including Worcester and the Berkshires. Winds are expected to reach up to 30 mph, with gusts at 50 mph.
“Gusty winds will blow around unsecured objects,” they warned. “Tree limbs could be blown down and some power outages may result.”
It is possible that a few snow flurries could fall amid the icy cold and wind on Wednesday morning, but forecasters say they don’t expect any accumulating snow.
An ever-so-slight warm-up is expected to arrive Thursday, with wind chills climbing out of the single digits for much of the state. Wind chills in Boston, Worcester and Springfield should reach the low teens by 6 p.m. Thursday.
The real relief arrives Friday when temperatures moderate to about the mid to upper 30s. Still cold, but very warm compared to the rest of the week.
The chances of a significant winter storm this weekend have continued to drop, according to the weather service. A weather model that predicted a roughly 50% chance of 3 or more inches of snow coming to New England has dropped the chances to about 20%. Other models say there is no chance of significant snowfall, according to the weather service.
