Topsy turvy temperatures are on the way for millions of Americans in the final days of 2024 as winter struggles to take hold.
Periodic blasts of bitterly cold Arctic air have plunged into the northern and eastern US this December in stark contrast to the warmest fall on record it followed.
But this seasonally appropriate air has been interrupted by periods of fall-like warmth – a temperature rollercoaster that will continue at least until 2025 arrives.
A new batch of Arctic air will reach the north-central US on Thursday at the same time a quick-moving storm brings some snow to the area. This cold air will quickly expand south and east Friday and encompass the entire eastern half of the country by Saturday.
Friday will likely be the coldest day of the week in Minneapolis. The city climbed to 40 degrees on Monday but will fail to get warmer than the teens on Friday – a full 10 degrees below normal. Single-digit low temperatures are likely Friday night.
Chicago’s high temperature will likely be below freezing on Saturday afternoon after temperatures plummet into the teens Friday night.
The coldest air of the season will settle over the East Coast Saturday and Sunday – on the first weekend of astronomical winter. Meteorological winter, which is what is used to track temperature records, began December 1.
New York City has yet to have a sub-freezing high temperature this meteorological winter but that’s likely to change on Sunday, when the high temperature will struggle to reach the mid-20s after starting out in the teens – also a first for the season – early in the morning.
The East Coast will remain quite cold through early next week but a warmup for the central US will begin as soon as Sunday.
Minneapolis, after its foray into the teens and single digits, will be back closer to 30 degrees by Sunday afternoon and potentially reach above freezing by Monday – about 10 degrees above normal.
Wednesday – Christmas Day and the beginning of Hanukkah – will mark the start of an extreme trend for the entire Lower 48.
“All forecast guidance favors an unseasonably warm final week of 2024,” the Weather Prediction Center said Tuesday.
The latest forecast is the most unusually warm issued by the center on such a large scale in more than 15 years, according to climatologist Brian Brettschneider.
Some forecast models are hinting at the potential for temperatures to soar nearly 25 degrees above normal in the Midwest by late next week. It’ll feel like October in Chicago and Indianapolis if that remains the case.
The West has largely missed out on any cooler than normal conditions in December which is another trend that looks to carry into early 2025.
Temperatures could reach up to 10 degrees above normal elsewhere from coast to coast as New Year’s Eve approaches.
