Tracking a few cool days before dangerous Christmas cold

TODAY: One of the warmest in the forecast, Tuesday struggles to warm temperatures back to the freezing mark after the morning cool down. A cold front arrives by late morning, keeping temperatures from warming much at all. Expect a mostly cloudy day, with a high near 32.

TONIGHT: Winds stay northerly, as an arctic high sits just north of us through the day and overnight. Winds will shift to a more southerly direction early Wednesday morning. We stay dry with clouds lingering if not increasing overnight.

EXTENDED: An increase in clouds happens aloft Wednesday morning, above our wind shift at the surface. This has the markings of a slightly warmer day, where we feel temperatures climb back into the upper 40s and above freezing. This doesn't last long though, as a push of arctic air is already barreling towards us. A cold front will arrive Thursday morning, bringing a slight chance at rainfall for maybe an hour before extreme cold rushes in turning everything to snow. The change will be fast enough that we likely start the day near freezing before sunrise, and may feel temperatures reach subzero before we go to sleep Thursday night. This is facilitated by strong winds that will make it feel even colder. Wind chills may be as cold as 30 below through the day, continuing into the evening to perhaps reach 30 to 40 below. This will be life threatening cold, and will also reduce visibility Thursday and Friday as it continues to blow snow that has fallen. Snowfall may reach several inches across mid-Missouri. For more detail on this, head over to our Weather Alert Day Blog. Dangerous cold air stays through the weekend, high temperatures on Friday and Saturday barely cracking single digits. By Sunday, we're warming enough to expect teens to 20s by the afternoon, which continues into Monday where our high MIGHT just be warm enough to thaw us a little bit.