Prepare for subzero wind chills and gusty winds on Sunday as rain leaves

The freezing rain may be over, but the temperature is about to dip lower. 

After a bout of mild winter weather this month, the temperature in Indianapolis is expected to plunge to a low of 10 degrees around 6 or 7 a.m. Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.

The NWS issued a hazardous weather outlook for Central Indiana and nearby counties on Saturday, warning residents about gusty winds that would continue into the night and cold wind chills that would fall below zero.

"We want people to be prepared (Sunday) morning as they head out with the wind chills in the zero to minus-10 range," meteorologist Andrew White said. "That's going to be fairly cold for anybody that's heading outdoors so plan accordingly."

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White attributed the falling temperature and subzero wind chills to cold air moving in behind a cold front that passed through the region earlier. 

"With the frontal passage, we had the colder temperatures and the wind," he said. Wind gusts peaked at 57 mph on Saturday and dropped to about 30 to 40 mph by mid-afternoon, according to meteorologists at the NWS said. The strongest winds were seen at the Indianapolis International Airport.

The Indianapolis area will remain cold throughout the day on Sunday, but the temperature is expected to rise to a high of 17 degrees around 3 or 4 p.m., White said. 

Frigidly cold weather settled into the region Friday evening, with some areas seeing a little sleet, snow and freezing rain. 

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The freezing rain is finished, White said. No more precipitation is expected.

Gusty winds of 25 to 35 miles per hour, however, were expected to remain throughout Saturday night. "That will kind of weaken throughout the night," White said. And the wet ground was expected to freeze. 

On Sunday, gusts in the range of 15 to 25 miles per hour and expected.

Indianapolis has been fairly cold at times this winter, but White said overall temperatures have been slightly above average.

Indianapolis saw a 9-degree low on Dec. 19, but the coldest day so far was on Nov. 12, when the temperature fell to just 8 degrees. 

The high temperatures will be in the upper 20s on Monday for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. 

Contact IndyStar reporter Alexandria Burris at aburris@gannett.com or call 317-617-2690. Follow her on Twitter: @allyburris.