Wind chills expected to fall below zero locally

The cold snap sweeping across the United States is expected to hit the Augusta County region today, bringing not only frigid temperatures but also winds that will cause wind chills to fall below zero, forecasters said Wednesday.

Andrew Ulrich, a meteorologist with AccuWeather, said temperatures today will reach 24, with wind chills in the single digits when combined with expected 25 to 35 mph wind gusts. Lows Thursday night and Friday morning will fall to 6, with wind chills at minus 5 to minus 10.

The high Friday is expected to reach just 15, with 8 to 16 mph winds keeping wind chills in the low single digits.

Ulrich said the second night of the cold snap would be the coldest, with temperatures falling to 4, with wind chills at minus 10.

Saturday will see a warming trend of sorts, Ulrich said, with a high of 20 and a low of 17, with high temperatures Sunday reaching 30.

Ulrich said AccuWeather meteorologists are keeping their eyes on a potential storm system that could move through the region by the beginning of next week. He said at this point, they are not sure whether it would be a sustained period of snow, flurries or anything at all.

“There is the possibility of some sort of winter system moving through sometime Sunday or Monday,” Ulrich said. “It’s something we’re going to watch.”

Ulrich said it would be a “blah-day” weather-wise for President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration in Washington, D.C. The current forecast calls for partly sunny skies with temperatures around 35, with wind chills in the mid- to upper-20s.