Big Temperature Changes Coming
Had enough of the cold? Well, get ready for a change! Mother Nature is switching things up with a major weather pattern transformation coming next week, turning the harsh cold into a distant memory.
Almost no place in the continental US has been spared from the recent cold snap. Some areas in the central US experienced wind chills dropping below minus 40 degrees, breaking hundreds of temperature records. It even led to one of the coldest NFL games ever and the chilliest Iowa caucuses on record.
But the good news is, by next week, the bone-chilling cold will be a thing of the past across the entire mainland US. Unusually mild conditions are set to replace the cold, making it feel more like March than January in some places. According to the Climate Prediction Center, above-average temperatures are expected for the entire Lower 48 starting Tuesday.
What’s causing this welcome change? It’s a significant shift in the weather pattern in the upper levels of the atmosphere, specifically in the jet stream. The jet stream, acting as a barrier between warm and cold air, has been positioned across the southern US during the recent cold spell. This allowed freezing Arctic air to plunge through Canada and into the US.
However, next week, the jet stream will move farther north across the US. This shift will achieve two things simultaneously: trap the frigid air in Canada and allow warm air from the tropics to move northward into the US.
The temperature shift will kick off on Sunday for parts of the West and north-central US. Milder conditions will gradually expand across the country early next week.
Cities like Chicago could see temperatures rise above freezing on Monday for the first time since Saturday afternoon. The most significant temperature changes will occur by midweek in the central and eastern US, with parts of the Plains and Midwest experiencing 10 to 20 degrees above average temperatures compared to the 30 to 40 degrees below average temperatures from the previous week.
This warming trend will result in 40- to 50-degree temperature swings in places like Des Moines and Minneapolis. For example, Des Moines, which struggled to go above minus 7 degrees on Sunday, is expected to reach the upper 30s by next Wednesday. Similarly, Minneapolis, with a high of only 2 degrees on Sunday, will enjoy a springlike high around 40 degrees next Wednesday.
The warmth is likely to persist through the end of January across much of the country, making winter a little more bearable for everyone.
Recent Climate – Big Temperature Changes Coming