Chilly air that surged into the Northeast behind thunderstorms on Friday is set to stick around into the first weekend of spring.
The cold air is courtesy of a powerful cold front which moved into the eastern United States behind a storm system on Friday, erasing the springlike temperatures.
Locations where the mercury soared into the 70s and 80s F on Friday will likely be replaced with afternoon highs some 20 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit lower on Saturday.
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In a matter of only 10 hours, the temperature in Syracuse, New York, dropped from 74 degrees on Friday afternoon to 33 degrees on Friday night.
Many other cities across the Northeast experienced similar temperature trends in the wake of the frontal passage.
Along with the plummeting temperatures, a brisk west-northwest wind made AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures sink even further.
The chilly air will stick around the Northeast through the day on Saturday as an expansive area of high pressure builds across the region.
Although temperatures will be below average, partly to mostly sunny skies along with a much more relaxed wind will help to ease the blow of the temperature whiplash.
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Mainly clear skies will continue across a majority of the Northeast into Saturday night, allowing for temperatures to continue their downward trend.
Boston, New York City, and even as far south as the suburbs of Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., could flirt with freezing temperatures early on Sunday morning.
As high pressure sits across the Northeast into the day on Sunday, the below-average temperature trend will continue.
In similar fashion to Saturday, a partly to mostly sunny sky across the region will help take the edge off of the chilly air.
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The quiet conditions across the Northeast will come to an end as the weekend draws to a close.
AccuWeather meteorologists continue to monitor the threat for wintry weather into early next week.
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Enough cold air is expected to linger across the interior Northeast to bring a threat for accumulating snowfall.
However, cities along the Interstate-95 corridor south of Boston can expect most, if not all, precipitation to fall as rain as the storm tracks along the coast.
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