Although little snow is in the forecast for the next several days, winter's icy grip will only strengthen during the final stages of January. A passing flurry will be possible Thursday; otherwise, some intervals of anemic sunshine will only boost temperatures into the lower teens. Wind chill values will start out well below zero and only rise to around zero in the afternoon. 

Much like Tuesday night, Thursday night will bring some very cold temperatures to all of eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania. In fact, the current record low for Friday, January 30th of -8 (set in 1965) is in jeopardy!  There will be a wide range of readings across the area, with some of the coldest sheltered valleys seeing temperatures as low as 15 or 20 below. The wind chill will not be much different than the air temperature. 

Saturday morning's record low of 9 below zero will be challenged. Once again, many local thermometers will read -15 to -20 for a time.  

Although clouds will win out over the sunshine at the start of the weekend, a good deal of sun is in the forecast for the first day of February Sunday. A cold, but quiet weekend is set to be followed by less harsh conditions next week. However, temperatures above the freezing mark seem unlikely any time in the foreseeable future.