Bitter cold, strong wind and dangerous wind chills through mid-day Saturday

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) - Our First Alert Weather Day continues through Saturday as we deal with strong wind, bitter cold and dangerous wind chills.

We saw a very windy day across western Mass with peak gusts this afternoon and evening between 40-55mph. A 78 mph gust was recorded on Mt. Tom around 6:16pm Friday evening!

Wind gusts continue to ease overnight, however some gusts may still reach 30-40mph. The core of the cold air is here and with temperatures falling to -5 to -15 overnight, wind chills will bottom out anywhere from -30 to -40+ in western Mass. Wind Chill Warnings continue through Saturday morning.

Gusty wind will begin to ease Saturday morning with some higher end gusts around 20-30mph. It does stay breezy and wind chills will begin well below 0. Sun and clouds mixed in the afternoon with highs returning to the middle and upper teens with wind chills back to 0.

Scattered clouds linger into the evening and wind shifts to the south and high pressure moves to the coast. Temperatures will hold in the teens overnight, then climb back to the lower and middle 40s Sunday-a dramatic change!

The upper level low that swung brutal cold into New England will exit quickly this weekend and temperatures rebound into the 40s by Sunday afternoon! A warm front moving to our north will keep a good deal of clouds around for the day and southerly breezes increase to 10-20mph with some higher gusts. A cold front moving through overnight may bring a spot rain or snow shower.

Mild temperatures return for next week with a few days possibly nearing 50 degrees. Overall, the week is a bit unsettled with a good deal of clouds and some healthy breezes. Shower chances return late Tuesday, then again Thursday afternoon into Friday morning.

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