Arctic Cold, Strong Wind Before Balmy Weather Swing

We interrupt this gradual warm-up to bring you a reminder that winter is not over yet.

Powerful wind gusts will usher in a bitter blast of arctic air and wind chills well below zero degrees. The strong winds will arrive Monday night and temperatures will sharply drop Tuesday morning.

A wind advisory goes into effect at 4 p.m. Monday across most of Massachusetts. Wind gusts are expected to reach 50 miles per hour, with even stronger winds on the Cape.

"Gusty winds could blow around unsecured objects," the National Weather Service said in its advisory. "Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result."

Then comes the cold. Forecasters say wind chills will get as low as minus 7 degrees in the Boston area and as cold as minus 13 degrees in the western part of the state.

The cold could give way to a 50-degree Wednesday, which WBZ reports would be one of the largest 24-hour temperature swings on record.

Boston-area forecast via National Weather Service

Today — Rain, mainly before 11am. Patchy fog before noon. High near 49. Light and variable wind becoming west 8 to 13 mph in the morning. Winds could gust as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Tonight — A slight chance of snow showers between 11pm and 3am. Partly cloudy, with a low around 12. Wind chill values as low as -3. Breezy, with a west wind 16 to 23 mph, with gusts as high as 47 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Tuesday — Sunny, with a high near 28. Wind chill values as low as -7. Breezy, with a west wind 20 to 24 mph, with gusts as high as 44 mph.

Tuesday night — Increasing clouds, with a low around 22. West wind 8 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph.

Wednesday — Mostly sunny, with a high near 47. Southwest wind 8 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

Wednesday night — Mostly clear, with a low around 29. West wind around 7 mph.

Thursday — Sunny, with a high near 40. Northwest wind 7 to 14 mph.

Thursday night — Mostly clear, with a low around 22. Northwest wind 10 to 13 mph.

Friday — Mostly sunny, with a high near 33. Northwest wind 10 to 14 mph.

Friday night — Partly cloudy, with a low around 22. West wind 7 to 11 mph.

Saturday — Mostly sunny, with a high near 36. West wind 7 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

Saturday night — Partly cloudy, with a low around 22. West wind 5 to 8 mph.

Sunday — Mostly sunny, with a high near 38. Northwest wind 5 to 7 mph.