UPDATE – 11:33 AM Friday: More than 47,729 Appalachian Power customers are without power as of 11:30 AM. Temperatures are not expected to reach above freezing until Tuesday, Dec. 27.

UPDATE – 12:30 PM. Forecast data continues to show extremely COLD AIR! Temperatures, after sunrise on Friday don’t ever get out of the single digits! Wind chills stay below -10 degrees from Friday through late Sunday morning!

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(WOWK) – Friday, 2 days before Christmas, will bring an incredibly abrupt weather change. Some of the coldest air in more than 30 years, for a Christmas weekend, is headed this way and you need to be prepared. Dangerous wind chills will be top of mind for everyone.

Look here at the temperature forecast. The change will be criminally insane as we see rapid drops like you haven’t felt in a long time! We go from mid to upper 40s and then deep into the 20s and teens within an hour or less!

TEMPERATURE SLIDESHOW:

We’re not done yet…there’s crazier things on tap. When you look at the power of the entire system and how the system “bombs out” with the rapid pressure decrease…this means the winds increase dramatically. The technical term is “bombogenesis” and then, in turn, the storm is given the name of a “bomb cyclone”. This will increase power outages across the area as power lines are interrupted by any tree falling or colliding with the lines.

WIND GUST SLIDESHOW:

NOW…combine those crazy temperatures with the extreme winter wind. This is a recipe for an incredibly cold day. The “wind chill” is what the air feels like on your skin as the temperature drops and the wind increases. This is going to be a really rough day for everyone.

WIND CHILL SLIDESHOW:

Okay…now let’s get to the precipitation part of the forecast here. It will be rain on Thursday across much of the Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia areas around the Ohio River Valley. Way up high in the mountains of West Virginia, and in the Greenbrier Valley, it will be a wintry mix for the day. Then the storm system will move through around or before midnight in the Tri-State around of Huntington. It will sweep across the region rapidly!

This will produce a “FLASH FREEZE” and treacherous travel conditions for the rest of the morning. Anything that’s wet or has standing water will freeze quickly. After this has happened, it’s hard to melt any of it. Even with the different chemical compounds…it’s just tough. Plus, there will be blowing snow that will be blinding at times. White out conditions are possible off and on during the day and into the evening on Friday.

PRECIP SLIDE SHOW:

Finally, the snow. It’s not a bunch. In fact, it’s kinda measly when you think about it. But no matter what…it means we’ll have a “White Christmas”. Whatever falls on Friday will stay here because it will be so freaking cold. Enjoy it!