Winter’s grip will return to half of the US this week as a rush of arctic air descends, plunging temperatures from well above average to nearly 30 degrees below average for some.
Two areas of high pressure are responsible for this pattern change, driving the bitter cold south from Canada and into the eastern half of the US.
This setup will sink temperatures nearly everywhere east of the Rocky Mountains and increase snow chances in the Northeast and Great Lakes.
“We’re talking about a big, big cool-down, to say the least, especially for places up and down the East Coast as we head into really the first few weeks of January,” FOX Weather meteorologist Kendall Smith said.
After the ball drops for the new year, 2025’s arctic outbreak begins Wednesday and the cold will be here to stay by the first weekend of January.
The biggest changes will be in the northern Plains and eastern US, where high temperatures by midweek will be between 20 and 30 degrees below what they were on Monday.
After the first round of cold, two more rounds of arctic air will dive from Canada, setting up parts of the US for a long-lasting arctic outbreak of freezing temperatures.
The chill will take hold in the Deep South by next week, plunging temperatures across Texas and the Gulf Coast states with lows in the upper 20s.
North Florida could see temperatures around freezing with overnight lows for Jacksonville and Tallahassee hovering around 30 degrees.
For the north, this change in weather pattern brings the first ingredient needed for snow.
Any low-pressure system that develops and taps into this cold air is likely to produce snow.
“The next piece to this complicated puzzle is how stormy it is. Do we have a pattern that allows for several storms, possibly winter storms, to set up for the East and that includes the Mississippi River Valley? And the answer is, yeah, it does look like we could have a storm,” FOX Weather meteorologist Stephen Morgan said.
The National Weather Service in Buffalo is tracking yet another prolonged lake-effect snow event beginning Wednesday, possibly through this weekend.
Western and northern New York could see anywhere from 3 inches to 3 feet of snow through Sunday.
