New blast of bitter cold coming this weekend as revelers brace for freezing New Year's Eve

— -- There have been record-low temperatures from Minnesota to Michigan to New York in the last few days -- and the bitter cold isn't letting up yet.

One of those records was set in Flint, Michigan, where the temperature hit minus 18 degrees -- the coldest temperature ever recorded in the month of December in the city. Temperature records were broken three days in a row this week for Flint.

One of the coldest temperatures measured was in Cotton, Minnesota, where it dropped to minus 41 degrees Wednesday morning.

And more Arctic air is on the way for the Midwest and the Northeast over the holiday weekend.

Saturday morning wind chills will be well below zero from the upper Midwest to northern New England. The temperature will feel like the teens in Washington D.C., Philadelphia and New York City.

New Year's forecast

The dangerously cold, bitter temperatures will be in place as much of the country rings in 2018. This year may be the coldest New Year’s Eve in decades for parts of the U.S.

As the ball drops in New York City's Times Square on Sunday night, the temperature is forecast to be 11 degrees, with a wind chill of minus 4. If this happens, it would tie the record set in 1962 for the second-coldest ball drop.

Wind chills will be below zero at midnight from the northern Plains through much of the Northeast.

Winds chills will be in the single digits from Nashville to Washington, D.C., and dip into the teens across much of the South.

Snow headed to the Midwest and Northeast

A quick-moving clipper system is bringing a blast of snow to the Midwest today. By 7 p.m., snow will be falling from Illinois to Ohio, including Chicago and Columbus.

Overnight the snow will move from the Ohio Valley into portions of West Virginia, northern Virginia and Pennsylvania.

Around daybreak Saturday morning the snow will be falling across parts of the Northeast, likely around Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Philadelphia, before reaching New York City by mid-to-late morning.

The light snow will then move into southern New England by the afternoon.

But then the lake effect snow will ramp up again, moving from the Great lakes across the interior Northeast.

A lake effect snow warning is in effect for Rochester, New York, as well as Erie, Pennsylvania, where another 18 inches of snow is possible after being buried in several feet of snow just days ago.

That blast of snow will bring around 1 to 3 inches of accumulation from the Midwest to Northeast Saturday. The major cities along the I-95 corridor will likely only have a light coating.

Larger snowfall totals are expected along portions of the Great Lakes. Parts of western Michigan could see 6 to 12 inches of snow through Saturday night.

Snow and rain coming to the Northwest

Snow and icy conditions are hitting the Northwest, from northern Washington state through Montana.

Rain and wind are coming to Seattle and Portland tonight. A wind advisory is in effect in Seattle and a flood watch is in effect from Seattle to Portland.