Welcome to the Polar Vortex.
Before you head out this morning, you should know this. You are about to step out into the coldest Jan. 7 in Philadelphia history.
The temperature is a bone-numbing, dangerous 5 degrees. That shatters the previous record of 7 degrees, set in 1988. If that doesn't give you the chills, try this. The 'real-feel temperature,' whatever that is, is more like 22 below zero.
Today's high is expected to struggle to hit single digits. And the overnight low will head right back into the same frigid territory.
You don't have to go far to find folks who have it even worse.
If you have kids up at Penn State, this is what they are dealing with as they walk to class this morning. Their overnight low hit -7.
Much of the country is in the grips of this phenomenon known as the 'polar vortex,' a pool of arctic air that usually does not make it farther south than Canada. But the dangerous cold snap has much of the Midwest in its clutches, and is even extending into the South, delivering rare cold temperatures as far south as Atlanta.
There's not a lot you can do aside from dressing in layers, and trying to stay inside as much as possible. Looking for some good news? We will get a big helping of sun later today, but it won't make it feel much warmer. A biting wind will continue to whip across the region with gusts up to 35 mph. Things will start to improve Wednesday, and by the weekend the forecast is calling for temperatures to his the 50s. It will feel like a heat wave.
We'd like you to share how your coping with us. We're looking for pictures of how you - and your kids - are bundling up to deal with the cold.
Email us your pictures to editor@delcotimes.com and we'll put them into one of our photo galleries.
In the meantime, bundle up out there.
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