A surge of frigid Arctic air is sweeping down from Canada, making its way into the northern regions of the United States. Meanwhile, the Pacific Northwest is on high alert, preparing for potential mudslides and levee breaches as floodwaters are projected to recede at a sluggish pace.

The severe flooding has triggered mass evacuations, affecting countless residents, including Eddie Wicks and his wife. The couple, who reside on a scenic Washington state farm bordered by sunflowers and Christmas trees near the Snoqualmie River, found themselves in a race against rapidly rising waters. They hurriedly moved their two donkeys to higher ground and relocated their eight goats to their outdoor kitchen, only to witness the floodwaters surge faster than they had ever seen.

When the deluge swallowed their home on Thursday afternoon, the King County Sheriff’s Office marine rescue dive unit came to their aid. Rescuers transported the couple and their dog by boat across what used to be their field, now transformed into a vast lake, covering a distance of half a mile (800 meters).

Meanwhile, major urban centers like Chicago and Minneapolis are bracing for the oncoming Arctic chill. As the Pacific Northwest begins its recovery from the floods, another weather system is already unleashing dangerously low wind chill values in parts of the Upper Midwest, combining cold temperatures with biting winds.

As the Pacific Northwest begins to recover from the deluge, a separate weather system is already bringing dangerous wind chill values — the combination of cold air temperatures and wind — to parts of the Upper Midwest.

Shortly before noon Saturday, it was minus 12 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 24 degrees Celsius) in Grand Forks, North Dakota, where the wind chill value meant that it felt like minus 33 F (minus 36 C), the National Weather Service said.

For big cities like Minneapolis and Chicago, the coldest temperatures were expected late Saturday night into Sunday morning. In the Minneapolis area, low temperatures were expected to drop to around minus 15 F (minus 26 C), by early Sunday morning. Lows in the Chicago area are projected to be around 1 F(minus 17 C) by early Sunday, the weather service said.

The Arctic air mass was expected to continue pushing south and east over the weekend, expanding into Southern states by Sunday.

The National Weather Service on Saturday issued cold weather advisories that stretched as far south as the Alabama state capital city of Montgomery, where temperatures late Sunday night into Monday morning were expected to plummet to around 22 F (minus 6 C). To the east, lows in Savannah, Georgia, were expected to drop to around 24 F (minus 4 C) during the same time period.

Danger of mudslides, levee failures continues in Pacific Northwest

The cold weather freezing much of the country comes as residents in the Pacific Northwest endure more misery after several days of flooding. Thousands of people have been forced to evacuate towns in the region as an unusually strong atmospheric river dumped a foot (30 centimeters) or more of rain in parts of western and central Washington over several days and swelled rivers, inundating communities and prompting dramatic rescues from rooftops and vehicles.

The record floodwaters were expected to continue to slowly recede Saturday, but authorities warn that waters will remain high for days, and that there is still danger from potential levee failures or mudslides. There is also the threat of more rain forecast for Sunday. Officials have conducted dozens of water rescues as debris and mudslides have closed highways and raging torrents have washed out roads and bridges.