Arctic air blast brings frigid temps to area

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Old Man Winter isn’t done with Van Wert County yet, with forecasters calling for frigid weather this weekend and into next week. In fact, forecasters don’t see above-freezing temperatures at all for at least the next 10 days.

According to County Emergency Management Director Rick McCoy, the first wave of arctic air should hit Saturday, bringing very cold temperatures and dangerous wind chills to the area. Tonight’s temperatures should be around 19, with windy conditions that drive wind chills down to 5 degrees above zero.

Saturday morning highs should be around 20 degrees, with temperatures dropping throughout the day and winds up to 35 mph creating wind chills of zero degrees in the morning and 20 degrees below zero late in the day. Saturday night’s low will be minus 4 degrees, with wind chills of 25 below zero.

Sunday morning will see a high of just 7 degrees, with wind chills of minus-10 to minus-15 degrees, McCoy projected, while Sunday night’s low will be around 1 below zero, causing wind chills of minus- 10 to minus-15 degrees.

Monday’s high is projected at 19 degrees, while lows that night will be around 12.

McCoy said a strong storm system is likely to come across the Plains on Tuesday, but went on to say it doesn’t appear as if the system will bring significant snow to the county, with current projections placing the brunt of the storm mostly to the south. Light snow is projected for the county at this time, but that could change if the track of the storm moves farther north, the EMA director added.

Tuesday’s high is forecast in the mid-20s, with lows of 10 that night. Wednesday should see a high of 19 and a low of 7, while Thursday’s high is projected at 22 degrees.