Ready or not we've got one of the coldest blasts of air all season on the way to end the week.

Not only will we see accumulating snow Wednesday evening and Thursday, but an arctic front will push through the region as well.

That will open the door to a brief shot of truly arctic air by late Thursday afternoon thru Saturday morning. It'll be short-lived, but it'll also be quite brutal.

The absolute worst of the bitterly cold air will stay to our west and northwest across parts of the Upper Midwest. That's where wind chills as low as -20° to -40° are expected.

For Michiana, it won't be quite that bad.

But it'll still be bitterly and even dangerously cold for several hours Friday morning and again late Friday night.

That's when our highest chance of seeing subzero wind chills exists.

Late Thursday night into Friday morning most of the region will see wind chills drop to or below zero. 

Friday in its entirety will be bitterly cold, but wind chills should rise above zero during the daytime hours before falling back below zero Friday evening and night. 

It will all depend on lake effect snow and clouds. If you live somewhere that experiences clear skies either Thursday night or Friday night, expect wind chills to drop to -5° to -15°. If your skies stay on the cloudy side, your wind chills may stay closer to 0° to -5°.

Regardless it's set to be one of the coldest 48-hour periods all winter. And when combined with the several inches of snow we are expecting, the cold will create hazardous conditions late this week into the weekend.