Cold blast to be short-lived in central, eastern US this week

The frigid conditions that are chilling the central and eastern United States into midweek will quickly get whisked away by the weekend.

Residents from the central Plains to the Great Lakes, Ohio Valley, mid-Atlantic and New England will be trading heavy winter coats, hats and gloves with lighter outerwear in the span of a few days.

After bringing subzero temperatures across the northern Plains at the start of the week, the cold blast will sweep southeastward toward the Atlantic Seaboard into Wednesday.

Snow and ice will mark the onset of plunging temperatures in portions of the Midwest, Northeast, Southeast and South Central states.

Daytime temperatures will be no higher than the teens, 20s and 30s F across the central and southern Plains on Tuesday. Colder conditions will then follow across the mid-Atlantic and interior Southeast on Wednesday with highs in the 20s and 30s.

A cold breeze lowering AccuWeather RealFeel Temperatures 10-15 degrees Fahrenheit below the actual temperature will further add to the chill in the air.

While not nearly as impressive as the deep freeze that settled in during the end of December and start of January, the fresh cold will once again have residents bundling up, cranking up the thermostat and taking precautionary measures to prevent frozen pipes.

AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Kristina Pydynowski anticipates the cold to be “quick to release its grip” on the region.

A potent midweek storm slamming into the West Coast

“As systems come into the West, they send more milder marine air into the Plains and East,”

AccuWeather Lead Long-Range Meteorologist Paul Pastelok said.

High temperatures are likely to trend upward by 20-40 degrees into the 40s, 50s and 60s, first over the Plains late this week and then across the Great Lakes and Northeast this weekend.

Heating demands are expected to significantly lower.

To the delight of those eager to spend more time comfortably outdoors, the impending warmup will be accompanied by more dry days than the most recent mild spell.

The next opportunity for wet weather will not arise until the weekend as a vigorous storm forms over the nation’s midsection and sweeps toward the East Coast into the fourth week of January. Areas of rain, snow and ice will all be possible with this storm.