New: Arctic Blast to Come in Waves, Final Cold Front Could See Snow in the Florida Panhandle
The central and eastern portions of the United States are expected to face multiple unforgiving fronts of Arctic air in the coming weeks.
Each cold front will move progressively more to the south, eventually bringing cold air from the Arctic deep into the southern United States, according to meteorologists at AccuWeather.
The cold fronts will last through the middle of January, at some points impacting over 250 million people across 40 states.
“This could end up being the coldest January since 2011 for the U.S. as a whole,” AccuWeather Lead Long-Range Expert Paul Pastelok said in the report.
“The combination of lingering neutral sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific, warm water in the northern Pacific, and an atmospheric traffic jam will induce multiple rounds of Arctic air east of the Rockies,” AccuWeather Long-Range Meteorologist Alex Duffus remarked.
“The pattern creates a persistent southward lunge in the jet stream in eastern North America to allow the frigid air to empty out of the Arctic and into the central and eastern U.S.,” he added.
The cold fronts are forecasted to occur alongside several snow and ice storms that could extend from the Great Plains and Midwest all the way into the southern states.
Some of those latter cold fronts could even bring snow into the tropical panhandle region of Florida, according to a report from Central Florida Public Media.
The outlet said that the third cold front, which could fuse with a low-pressure system crossing the Gulf States, may maintain enough moisture to cause some light snowfall in the area.
“At this time, it looks like there will be at least three major blasts of Arctic air that will affect the Southern states,” AccuWeather Meteorologist Alex DaSilva commented.
“The first outbreak will linger into Jan. 4, the second on Jan. 7-8 and then the third round on Jan. 11-12.”
AccuWeather cautioned that homes in the southern part of the country, which are often not prepared for cold weather, could experience frozen or burst pipes, as well as strained heat pumps.
That could increase overall stress on the electric grid and even force rolling blackouts.
BE PREPARED
🚨 🥶 A brutal arctic blast will move into the US over the next several days with wind chills as cold as -60°F in North Dakota and Montana with temperatures up to 70 degrees below normal.
Negative wind chills could reach as far south as central Texas and the Deep… pic.twitter.com/QVZJC6BjBw
— {Matt} $XRPatriot (@matttttt187) January 12, 2024
The Arctic air will also likely negatively impact agricultural activity.
“At this time, the areas that are likely to be most vulnerable for crop-damaging freezes will be in central and northern Florida, southern Louisiana, and parts of central Texas,” DaSilva remarked.
“We are closely watching south Texas and south Florida for any indication of lower temperatures that could be damaging to agriculture.”
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