For the tens of millions of people expected to lose power from Hurricane Sandy, the weather following the storm should add to their misery: Frigid temperatures will make life quite uncomfortable for those whose furnaces won't turn on.

"From Wednesday through Friday, low temperatures will drop into the 20s, 30s and 40s" in the areas where Hurricane Sandy has blown through, according to Louis Uccellini, director of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction.

He says that lows in the 20s will be common at higher elevations and that coastal areas should see lows in the 30s and 40s. Daytime highs will struggle to get out of the 40s and 50s in many areas. Almost the entire eastern third of the nation will shiver through temperatures that are 10-20 degrees below seasonal averages, the National Weather Service predicts.

There's also enough cold air in place along the western edge of Sandy for snow to fall: AccuWeather forecasts that the higher ridges of West Virginia, above 2,500 feet of elevation, could see snowfalls of 1 to 2 feet by Wednesday.

Unlike most hurricanes, the majority of which usually hit in the warmer months of August or September, Sandy will be one of the strongest to occur so late in the season. Since 1851, there have been 51 hurricanes to hit the U.S. in October, according to the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory. By contrast, 104 have made landfall in September, and only 5 have hit in November.

It wasn't the lack of heat but loss of air conditioning that added to the horrific conditions following the devastation from Hurricane Katrina in August 2005: High temperatures along the Gulf Coast following Katrina were in the steamy 80s and 90s, with stifling humidity.

USA Today