(CNN) Forget the tux and the little black dress for New Year's Eve. This year you may want to bust out your parka and a hat with earflaps.

From New England to Texas, weather forecasters warn it's going to be 20 degrees to 40 degrees colder than usual over New Year's. Much of the US won't get above freezing all day.

If the present forecast holds true, this will be the third-coldest New Year's Eve ball drop in New York City since the event started in 1907. The expected low will be 11 degrees, with a windchill of zero.

And those numbers pale compared to what Minneapolis and Chicago might put on the board on New Year's Eve. Minneapolis is expected to log a low of -13, while the forecast for Chicago is for wind-chill temperatures down to 15 below.

Earlier this week a record 58 inches of snow fell on Erie, Pennsylvania , in two days. The weather triggered a snow emergency in northwestern Pennsylvania, where 21 National Guard troops were placed on active duty.

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