January’s shivering weather pattern east of the Rockies shows no signs of letting up as we head into the month’s final stretch.
That’s because a fresh batch of bitterly cold arctic air is set to arrive this weekend into early next week, possibly bringing the coldest lows of the winter so far in some cities as well as dangerously cold wind chills.
When the next cold plunge will arrive: After a brief return to milder temperatures in the central U.S. late this week, the next cold plunge supplied by strong arctic high pressure will nosedive southward through the Plains and upper Midwest by Friday night and Saturday.
From there, it will spread across the rest of the Midwest, South and Northeast Sunday through Tuesday.
Although it’s not forecast to set many records, the temperatures during this cold snap will be anywhere from 15 to 30 degrees below average for a large area.
(MAPS: Forecast Highs And Lows)
Current Temperatures
How frigid temperatures might become: In general, some locations will see their coldest lows of winter so far, while for others, it might rival what they have already seen.
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Minneapolis could see its first double-digit subzero low of the season early next week.
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Chicago, Denver, Detroit and Pittsburgh might see their first lows of the season dropping below zero.
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Lows along the Interstate 95 corridor from Boston to New York and Philadelphia will flirt with the single digits by Tuesday morning.
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Much of the South will see teens and low 20s for lows by early next week, with parts of the Gulf Coast dipping at or below freezing.
Forecast AM Lows Next Week
Wind chills will once again be dangerous. The following two maps show the coldest forecast wind chills of the day on Monday and Tuesday. In most cases, those coldest wind chills occur early in the morning.
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Subzero wind chills will grip a broad area of the Plains, Midwest and Great Lakes this weekend into early next week. Portions of the Northern Plains, upper Midwest and western Great Lakes could see early morning wind chills in the dangerously cold minus 20s, 30s and 40s.
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Wind chills in the teens and single digits will extend into parts of the South and the Northeast. Many areas in the Northeast will see subzero wind chills by Tuesday morning.
(MORE: What The Wind Chill Means And Why They Are Dangerous)
January’s cold start is notable for one reason: Record cold hasn’t been widespread this month, but what we’ve seen so far, plus what’s to come, makes it noteworthy from a persistence point of view.
Most areas east of the Rockies had temperatures at least somewhat below average for the first 13 days of the month as a whole, as shown in the analysis below from NOAA. Most notably, parts of the Plains, South, Ohio Valley and mid-Atlantic have been 5 or more degrees below average.
Many of these areas will continue to feel the brunt of this cold January pattern as we head into the month’s final stretch.
Chris Dolce has been a senior meteorologist with weather.com for over 10 years after beginning his career with The Weather Channel in the early 2000s.