Record cold possible this weekend

Valentine's Day isn't the only reason you'll want to cuddle up this weekend.

A blast of arctic air will be making its way through the Philadelphia region, with plunging temperatures, strong winds and near-record cold in store for the area.

The high Saturday is expected to reach just the low 20s, according to the National Weather Service. The day is likely to be blustery, with the potential for scattered snow showers.

A wind advisory is in place from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, with forecasters expecting northwest gusts that could reach 45 to 55 mph. The gusts are expected to pick up suddenly after dawn, the weather service said, and people should be on alert for broken tree limbs and power outages.

Then, overnight into Sunday, the temperature will plummet well into the single digits, with a forecasted low of zero to 5 degrees. Wind chill values could drop below minus 10 near Philadelphia and minus 30 in the Poconos, the weather service says.

And the day won't get much warmer, with the high slated to climb only into the mid-to-high teens.

"Never venture outdoors without wearing gloves, a hat and several layers of clothing," a weather service statement about the frigid forecast warns. "Wind chill values Saturday night into Sunday morning could lead to frostbite in less than 30 minutes if proper precautions are not taken."

The weekend is expected to easily be the coldest of the winter thus far, and could set records on Sunday.

The lowest temperature recorded at Philadelphia International Airport so far this season is 12 degrees.

The coldest Valentine's Day in the city's history was in 1979, when the low hit 2 degrees. That year also holds the record for the lowest maximum temperature for the date, which was 14 degrees, according to the weather service.

There's a chance one or both of those records could fall this year.

And if the mercury drops below zero, it would be the first time that's happened in Philadelphia since Jan. 19, 1994.

Code blue alerts have been declared across the region in advance of the cold. People can call Project HOME at 215-232-1984 to help homeless individuals get shelter.

Forecasters were warning of a number of hazards related to the cold, including the potential for frostbite or hypothermia, frozen pipes, dead car batteries and increased chance of carbon monoxide poisoning if people improperly use secondary sources of heat.

Looking ahead, forecasters say a storm system could bring rain, snow and freezing rain to the region from Monday night through Tuesday night, though it's too early to say precisely how much precipitation could fall or when.