Chilly and bright, super cold at night!

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - The coldest temperature in the state this morning was a frigid cold 49 below zero in Fort Yukon and Northway! That is a super cold start to the day!

Extremely cold air will stick around the mainland areas of the state, keeping temperatures sub-zero in the interior during the night as well as the day.

High pressure remains camped over mainland Alaska in the form of a large ridge of high pressure. This blocking pattern, known as an Omega block, is forcing storms over the Aleutians, where winds will be strong and rain is likely. The Aleutians remain in the storm zone through the week.

A new storm will enter the Gulf of Alaska by late Wednesday to Thursday and that brings a chance of snow to Anchorage and southcentral. It will also swing precipitation into the Panhandle and there could be some significant accumulations with this storm. A winter weather advisory starts Tuesday for Yakutat, on track to see 4-6 inches of snow. And a Wind Chill Advisory for wind chills to 45 below is set for the Upper Klondike Highway to near White Pass through Wednesday.

Cold temperatures need to be taken seriously.

Anchorage has 41.2 inches of snow for December so far, that total coming after a series of snowstorms from last week.

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