Cold temperatures will start to make their way into the Lower 48 by Wednesday across the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest, where temperatures are expected to drop 5-10 degrees below average. The cold air will start to push further south and east by Thanksgiving. Highs across the Great Lakes will be in the 30s. Temperatures will continue to fall well below average. By Friday, more than 200 million Americans will be below their average temperature.
It will be a cold Thanksgiving for millions across the Midwest as arctic air from Canada invades the Northern Tier on Wednesday before spreading to the Eastern U.S. in time for Black Friday shopping, as even more bone-chilling cold from north-of-the-border looms next week.
WHAT IS THE POLAR VORTEX?
The shift to colder temperatures coincides with the start of meteorological winter on Dec. 1, as a weakening in the Polar Vortex, combined with the current La Niña climate pattern and forecast dips in the jet stream will allow for rounds of arctic air to surge across most of the country.
This comes several weeks after a record-setting cold blast earlier this month reached the Southeast and even caused iguanas to become cold-stunned in Central Florida.
WHAT ARE EL NINO AND LA NINA CLIMATE PATTERNS?
Iguanas typically begin to lose mobility when temperatures reach 50 degrees. Below that, the cold can completely immobilize them.
((Cristobal Herrera/South Florida Sun Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images) / Getty Images)
According to the FOX Forecast Center, colder temperatures will start to make their way into the Lower 48 by Wednesday across the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest, where temperatures are expected to drop 5-10 degrees below average.
Places in and around Bismarck, North Dakota are not expected to see a high temperature of 30 degrees on Wednesday and will remain below average well into the beginning of December.
HOW LA NIÑA, POLAR VORTEX WINDS COULD FUEL A FAST START TO BRUTAL WINTER FOR PARTS OF THE US
(FOX Weather)
The colder conditions will allow for a potent winter storm to move across the Northern Plains, from Montana to Minnesota, Tuesday night through Wednesday. Minneapolis is expected to see some snow during the peak of holiday travel.
THANKSGIVING WEEK STORM LIVE TRACKER: RADAR, FLIGHT DELAYS AND CANCELLATIONS AND FORECASTS
FILE – Cars drive in near whiteout lake-effect snow on Interstate 79 on December 12, 2024 in Erie, Pennsylvania.
(Jeff Swensen/Getty Images / Getty Images)
People watching Thanksgiving Day parades will have to bundle up with high temperatures across the Great Lakes in the 30s. Winds over the Great Lakes will also be able to tap into the cold air and produce significant lake-effect snow for Michigan, as well as parts of Ohio, western Pennsylvania and western New York.
In addition, parts of the Ohio Valley will also get a taste of those below average temperatures, including Kentucky, West Virginia.
FLOODING RAIN AND SEVERE STORMS SOAK TEXAS, AS RECORD-BREAKING THANKSGIVING TRAVEL GETS UNDERWAY
(FOX Weather)
The cold air will expand east by Friday, with more than 200 million Americans experiencing below average temperatures from the Interstate 95 corridor in the Northeast to Northern Florida.
By this weekend, a shot of even colder air is expected to dive southward as a deeper dip in the jet stream pushes arctic air into the Rocky Mountains.
WHAT IS THE JET STREAM?
(FOX Weather)
Blustery north winds will force wind chills below zero for parts of Montana, Wyoming, and the Dakotas this weekend.
This will all set the stage for a potential post-Thanksgiving winter storm, the details of which computer forecast models haven’t completely agreed upon yet.
According to NOAA, with multiple troughs expected to sweep across the country, below-average temperatures look to remain for at least the beginning to middle part of December.
