NYC prepares for ‘dangerous’ polar vortex and sub-zero temperatures

Time to dust off those hats and scarves, New Yorkers!

Temperatures will drop into the teens and single digits this weekend in the Big Apple, with sub-zero wind showers expected Friday night as part of an Arctic airmass that will hit the Northeast with the coldest air in five years.

Upstate New York and New England will experience wind chills between minus 40 and minus 50 degrees thanks to a polar vortex descending from the northwest.

“We’re going to end up getting a huge jump in the jet stream that’s going to end up releasing all this cold air out of Canada,” said Fox Weather meteorologist Jason Frazer. “It’s going to be dangerous weather.”

The biting weather, which comes just a week after Central Park recorded record monthly temperatures, will move from the Midwest to the New York metropolitan area starting Friday when temperatures drop to single-digit lows.

The worst of the cold will be felt on Saturday morning when temperatures drop between minus 20 and single digits above and below zero, according to Fox Weather. Wind chill record lows of minus 30 degrees were seen in Boston, Providence, Rhode Island and Bridgeport, Connecticut.

New York City can experience wind chills ranging from minus 10 to minus 20.

Snow gusts are expected to dump half an inch to an inch of snow, according to Fox Weather, and will quickly reduce visibility along the frigid air’s edge.

Wind gusts could reach 45 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service, which warned that hypothermia is a possibility “if proper precautions are not taken.” Frostbite can occur on exposed skin in as little as 15 to 30 minutes, NWS said.

The cold weather will be short-lived, however, as temperatures are set to climb into the mid-40s on Sunday.

In Boston, schools will close Friday after Mayor Michelle Wu declared a cold state of emergency ahead of the extreme weather, WCVB reported. Heat centers will be open across the city, officials said.

In northern Maine, where deep fresh snow already lies on the ground, high winds could create a “ground blizzard” that obscures visibility, according to Fox Weather.