After a few days break, bitter Arctic cold will overspread much of the north-central U.S. Wednesday, while the East Coast sees heavy rain and thunderstorms from a potent storm.
The Arctic air will blast across the the Midwest with subzero wind chill temperatures and stiff northwesterly winds, AccuWeather meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said.
“While there are not expected to be any records with this Arctic outbreak, temperatures will be much below average on Wednesday across the Northern Plains into the Upper Mississippi Valley,” the National Weather Service said in an online forecast. “These much below-average temperatures will then push into the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley region on Thursday.”
Fortunately, this round of Arctic air is forecast to be brief: According to AccuWeather, the cold air is likely to ease by the weekend, with temperatures potentially rising above average by early next week.
The national weather forecast map for Wednesday, December 11, 2024, shows a cold front racing toward the East Coast as a potent storm lashes the region.
Arctic blast incoming
A cold front will sweep across the East Coast Wednesday into Thursday, with much colder air surging in from the north and northwest in its wake. This Arctic blast will expand eastward across the Great Lakes, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast Wednesday and Thursday, the weather service said.
“High temperatures the next couple of days will be roughly 10 to as much as 30 degrees below normal,” National Weather Service forecaster Mark Miller said in an online forecast. “The cold post-frontal air mass will also help to change rain to snow across the western slopes of the Appalachians and interior portions of New England and the Northeast with at least modest accumulations looking like a decent bet,” he said.
Big East Coast storm
Also during the day Wednesday, rain and thunderstorms will rapidly expand up the entire East Coast, producing a period of widespread heavy rainfall from the central to eastern Gulf Coast, across the Southeast, Mid-Atlantic, Northeast and New England, the weather service predicted.
“Those with travel plans on the ground or in the air can expect significant delays from Wednesday to early Thursday as a storm rockets northward from the Gulf of Mexico to Quebec, Canada,” Sosnowski said.
With much of these areas currently in moderate to extreme drought conditions, this rainfall will be beneficial. Still, given the potential for periods of heavy rains over a short period, there will be a threat of localized flash flooding, especially in more urbanized regions, the weather service said.
Lake-effect snow cranks up
Yet another round of significant lake effect snow is expected downwind of the Great Lakes Wednesday through Thursday. Arctic air will stream across the still relatively warm Great Lakes and ignite intense bands of lake-effect snow, initially downwind of Lakes Superior and Michigan on Wednesday and then downwind of Lakes Erie and Ontario Wednesday night into early Thursday, Miller said.
By the time the snow starts to taper off on Friday, snowfall totals of 1 to 2 feet are likely in the favored Snow Belt across portions of northwest and western New York State, far northwest Pennsylvania, far northeastern Ohio, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and the western portions of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, according to the weather service.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Storms, cold hit eastern US. Weather forecast says it won’t last.
