Winter cold will return to half of the United States this week as the arctic air plummets and temperatures plummet from well above normal to nearly 30 degrees below average in some areas.
Two areas of high pressure are responsible for this change in pattern, bringing bitter cold south from Canada and into the eastern half of the United States.
This setting will bring temperatures down for most of the country east of the Rocky Mountains and increase the chance of snow in the Northeast and Great Lakes.
“We're talking about a massive cooldown, to say the least, especially up and down the East Coast as we head into the first few weeks of January,” said FOX Weather meteorologist Kendall Smith.
After the New Year's ball drops, the 2025 Arctic outbreak will begin on Wednesday, and the cold will take hold by the first weekend in January.
The biggest changes will be in the northern Plains and eastern U.S., where high temperatures through midweek are expected to be 20 to 30 degrees cooler than Monday.
After the first cold wave arrives, two more arctic air currents will move in from Canada, causing parts of the United States to experience extended periods of below-freezing temperatures in the Arctic.
The cold front will settle into the Deep South by next week, causing temperatures to plummet across Texas and the Gulf Coast states, with lows in the low 20s.
Temperatures could be near freezing in North Florida, with nighttime lows likely to hover around 30 degrees in Jacksonville and Tallahassee.
For the North, this change in weather patterns brings the first element needed for snow.
If a low pressure system develops and takes advantage of this cold air, snow may fall.
“The next piece of this complex puzzle is how stormy it is. Is there a pattern that would allow some storms, possibly winter storms, to form in the East, including the Mississippi River Valley? “The answer seems to be that there is indeed a possibility of storms,” said FOX Weather Meteorologist Stephen Morgan.
The National Weather Service in Buffalo is tracking another extended period of lake-effect snowfall starting Wednesday and possibly continuing through the end of this week.
Western and northern New York could see 3 inches to 3 feet of snow into Sunday.
