By Allison Chichar | CNN Meteorologist
Astronomical winter officially begins this Wednesday and Jack Frost will arrive in full force.
Temperatures will take a polar plunge this week and even Florida won’t be spared, thanks to a strong high pressure system moving south from Canada.
“Very cold Arctic air masses will envelop much of the central and eastern half of the country over the two-week period, including the busy holiday travel season,” the statement said. Climate Prediction Center said.
From Idaho to Minnesota, temperatures will be between 10 and 30 degrees below average as of Sunday. By Tuesday, that bitter cold will spread from Washington to Wisconsin and on through Texas, and will become more extreme, with some areas reaching 45 degrees below normal.
“Highs will only reach into the single digits in the northern plains, while lows will fall in areas below zero and minus teens closer to the Canadian border,” the Weather Prediction Center said. “Gusty winds will make it feel even colder in northern Montana, where wind chill advisories are in effect due to the potential for wind chill to drop to 30 to 45 degrees below zero.”
At those temperatures, hypothermia can set in in less than 10 minutes, but for areas in South Dakota, it can be as little as 5 minutes.
The National Weather Service office in Rapid City, South Dakota noted that chills of 50 to 60 degrees below zero are possible on Wednesday night.
Even worse, the wind chill advisory is in effect until Thursday. Five whole days of bitterly cold temperatures to kick off the winter season, and that doesn’t just apply to Montana.
Cold start of winter
It’s that time of year again when everyone hates Florida – the only truly warm place in the country – but only for the next few days, as Florida will also cool down by the end of the week.
Monday Atlanta will see a high temperature near 50 degrees, but on Friday that high temperature may not even reach 30 degrees. Denver goes from a high of 46 degrees on Monday to a high of just 14 on Thursday.
Some Floridians will see a much more sudden drop. Pensacola’s high of 64 on Thursday will look downright tropical compared to the high of 38 just 24 hours later. And yes, this means nighttime low temperatures are likely to dip below freezing.
Be sure to cover any plants you have left outside and bring your pets inside this week.
Even Miami’s high temperature of 73 on Friday — which will likely be the hottest spot in the continental US — will be nearly 10 degrees cooler than the previous day.
Over the next week, more than 260 million people in the U.S. will see temperatures at or below freezing — more than 80 percent of the population.
“As cold as it is likely to be, it will be difficult to challenge the daily record lows/cold highs as this event overlaps with parts of the historic cold waves of 1983 and 1989. At a minimum, parts of the east will see the coldest temperatures from December since 2017.”
The cold air is here to stay. Long-term forecast models continue to show temperatures well below normal over the Christmas weekend.
“A major storm system is predicted to affect much of the country leading up to Christmas Eve, bringing widespread wind gusts, areas of heavy rain and heavy snowfall, as well as bitter cold in its wake,” the statement said. Center for weather forecast said. “Be sure to pay close attention to the forecast this week as the details become certain.”
If you’re looking for warm weather for the holiday weekend, you’re limited to South Florida, Southern California, or Hawaii.
The-CNN-Wire
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