Frigid cold weather is hitting Maine and Portland tonight with lows flirting with record subzero temperatures.

Accuweather meteorologist Joe Lundberg says it’s going to remain colder than normal in Maine because of the current weather pattern.

“Extreme cold is building in western Canada and back into eastern Alaska,” said Lundberg. “And that’s where the large pool of arctic air is going to sit and continue to jell for the next 10 days or so. And we’re going to keep ripping pieces away from that.”

Lundgren says temperatures will stay below normal for the next couple of weeks and will dip into a deep freeze several times in that time span.

“As long as that pocket of cold air is there, and we don’t change our wind flow aloft to a southwesterly direction to eradicate it, we’re just going to have to deal with this weather pattern for as far as the eye can see,” Lundberg said.

He says those conditions mean the current snow on the ground will stay there.

Tonight’s is forecast to dip to 4 degrees tonight in Portland and 6 degrees Monday night in the near future.