Dec 16 (Reuters) – The Arctic air blowing through New York and Boston will bring near record low temperatures on Friday, while another blast of cold air is flowing into the Midwest, a meteorologist said.

The mercury in New York City is forecast to drop to 15 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 9 degrees Celsius), which would tie its record for this date, meteorologist Patrick Burke of the Weather Prediction Center told Reuters.

Temperatures in Boston are forecast to plunge to 2 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 17 degrees Celsius), just above the 1883 record of 1 degree (minus 17 degrees Celsius), he said.

“This is well below normal even for those areas of the country that are kind of used to cold weather,” Burke said.

The frigid temperatures and blustery winds across the Northeast on Friday come as many parts of the United States face another brunt of cold, windy weather and snow that could interrupt people’s travel plans heading into the weekend.

People brave the cold weather in East Village in New York City, NY, U.S. December 15, 2016. REUTERS/Alex Wroblewski

Arctic air swept into the Midwest earlier this week before spreading to the East Coast. Another shock of cold air arrived from Canada into Montana and North Dakota late on Thursday, Burke said.

With it comes the risk of frostbite for many parts of the northern United States, a danger weather officials have warned about all this week as a result of the unusual cold.

The Arctic front will combine with a storm flowing across the Rocky Mountains on Friday, according to National Weather Service advisory. Extreme conditions in many parts of the country will continue into Saturday, it said.

The eastward spread of the snowstorm will blanket parts of South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin with between 5 inches and 10 inches of snow (13 to 25 cm), Burke said.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Editing by Angus MacSwan)