The deep freeze is on, with the weather service warning of 'dangerously cold' temperatures and wind chills. After that, a threat of snow is looming. Watch video
With a second wave of Arctic air on the way this weekend, ushering in strong winds and sub-zero temperatures, the National Weather Service has issued a wind chill warning for Sussex and Passaic counties and a wind chill advisory for the rest of the Garden State.
The warning is effective from 6 a.m. Saturday through 1 p.m. Sunday, when the air temperature is expected to drop as low as five to 10 degrees below zero in northwestern sections of New Jersey, with wind chills making it feel as cold as 25 to 30 degrees below zero.
Here's how to prepare your life for sub-zero temps
In four northeastern counties -- Bergen, Essex, Hudson and Union -- a wind chill advisory is effective from 4 p.m. Saturday to noon Sunday, when the temperature could drop as low as 5 degrees above to 5 degrees below zero, the weather service said. Counties in central and southern New Jersey are under a wind chill advisory from 6 p.m. Saturday to 9 a.m. Sunday.
Steady winds of 15 to 20 mph are expected in the northern areas of the state, with gusts reaching as high as 35 mph Saturday night.
The weather service expects "dangerously cold" temperatures and wind chills to sweep across the entire state, as well as neighboring Pennsylvania and New York.
A burst of frigid air pushing down from Canada early Saturday morning will set up a rare weather occurrence in which the temperature will steadily drop -- instead of rising -- during daylight hours that day. Then, after midnight, the mercury will plummet into the single digits in most areas of New Jersey and below zero in northern and western sections heading into the morning of Valentine's Day.
Threat of snow
Although some scattered snow showers could occur across the Garden State late Friday night into early Saturday morning, no big storm systems are in the forecast until Monday. That's when a low-pressure system could form in the mid-Atlantic region and bring snow, rain or mixed precipitation to most of New Jersey.
Although it's early to predict the track of the storm, it has the potential to dump "significant amounts of snow" or freezing rain on the region Monday night into Tuesday, the weather service said in a briefing Friday afternoon.
One quick transportation alert: The frigid air rolling in this weekend has prompted the Seastreak Ferry to cancel all of its ferry service between Monmouth County and New York City on Saturday.
HOW COLD WILL IT BE IN YOUR TOWN?
This map shows the low temperature, and the wind chill, projected for Sunday morning in towns across the region. Find the dot closest to your hometown and hover over it or click it to see how cold it will be. Click the + sign to zoom in.
Len Melisurgo may be reached at LMelisurgo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @LensReality. Find NJ.com on Facebook.