Dangerous cold to make a strong comeback in central, eastern US this week
Arctic air is on the move southward and eastward into the United States in the coming days and will create harsh conditions for millions prior to the end of February.
AccuWeather Long-Range Expert Joe Lundberg warns of bitter cold accompanied by snow and ice expected to grip multiple regions of the U.S. including the Plains and Northeast next week.
Frigid air hanging out near the Canada border in the central and eastern United States will lunge southward in waves as the third week of February continues, AccuWeather meteorologists say while shivering. In some areas, the bitterly cold air could rival the lowest temperatures experienced this winter.
This can certainly be the case for frigid daytime highs as well as nighttime lows at a point in the winter where lengthening days and strengthening sunshine allow the historical average to trend slowly upward.
Central U.S. cities that will experience such conditions include Fargo, North Dakota; Minneapolis; Chicago; Omaha, Nebraska; Des Moines, Iowa; Kansas City, Missouri; Oklahoma City; Dallas; and St. Louis.
"The first shock wave of bitter arctic air is already well established across central and western Canada," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Joe Lundberg said.
"As the weekend storm strengthens while tracking [through] the Northeast, it will drag a significant chunk of that frigid air southward across the Great Plains and then force it eastward toward the Mississippi Valley, Appalachians and the Atlantic coast early in the week," Lundberg added.
For example, the lowest daytime high temperature in Omaha, Nebraska, was on Jan. 20, when the high was 10 F. Temperatures may struggle to reach 0 F on Tuesday, which is forecast to be followed by their coldest night of the winter so far, with a low of 15 below zero at the start of the day on Thursday.
Farther north, temperatures may remain well below zero for many hours right on through the middle of the week over portions of the northern Plains and the Upper Midwest.
Farther to the south, in Dallas, record low temperatures will be challenged in the week ahead with low temperatures in the frigid 10s.
The cold in the east will be accompanied by gusty winds through Tuesday following the most recent storm.
Some gusts will top 50 mph in New York and New England. Gusts this strong have the potential to break tree limbs and trigger sporadic power outages.
AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures will run from 5 to 40 degrees lower than the actual temperature depending on the strength of the wind, sunshine and other factors.
Some of the harshest conditions of the winter will be felt in the upcoming five to seven days.
"The eastward and southward expansion of the cold early [this] week sets the stage for the next storm in the pipeline, one that will spread snow across portions of Nebraska, Kansas and northern Oklahoma into Missouri Monday night and Tuesday," Lundberg said.
The same storm has the potential to spread some of the heftiest snowfalls of the winter across the lower part of the mid-Atlantic on Wednesday and Wednesday night.
"One final surge of arctic air follows down through Texas in the wake of the storm with record lows," Lundberg said, "The cold will then envelop the entire nation east of the Mississippi from late [this] week into [the] weekend."
Especially where the storm from Tuesday to Thursday is able to put a decent amount of snow on the ground, temperatures can plummet at night and struggle to rise much during the day, even where the sun is out. This is due to the insulating and reflective nature of fresh snow cover.
Should that snowstorm develop to its full potential and produce a large swath of deep snow, then the lowest temperatures of the winter may be felt from the interior Southeast to the Northeast later this week.
As the frigid air expands, dangerous conditions are in store, with the risk of frostbite and hypothermia for those who are not properly dressed or spend a considerable amount of time outdoors in the conditions. The penetrating cold can increase the risk of bursting pipes in drafty or poorly insulated areas, especially in the Southern states.
Late-month warmup coming
After the last wave of Arctic air cycles through and off the Atlantic coast, temperatures will likely moderate before the end of the month.
A pattern change during the last five days of the month or so and into early March should mean few storms and temperatures closer to the historical average (which continues to trend slowly upward) or perhaps even on the mild side of the average, Lundberg explained.
"When factoring in the late February and March sun, it should feel a great deal warmer for many areas after the persistent cold conditions from January to much of February," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Brett Anderson added.
While a strong warming trend may occur for the Central and Southern states toward the end of the month, cold air could hang on the longest in the Northeast and may even fight periodically into March.
Skiing and winter sports interest will still have plenty of snow on the slopes and ice on the lakes for a time after the milder weather arrives, but even seasonable temperatures, when combined with sunshine, can provide a tremendous boost for those experiencing the winter blues.
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