Weather
A more active weather pattern for the Heartland
A storm system currently arriving in the Pacific Northwest will traverse the nation’s northern tier. By mid-week, a significant wind-driven snow event may unfold across the north-central U.S., particularly in the Red River Valley. Starting on December 23, showers and thunderstorms along the storm’s trailing cold front will sweep eastward from the Mississippi Valley, reaching the Atlantic Seaboard on Christmas Eve.
In the Northeast, heavy rain falling upon melting snow may result in flash flooding.
Sharply cold air and snow showers will trail the front into the Midwest and East; high temperatures on Christmas Day should remain below 20° in portions of the Great Lakes region. By December 26-27, freezes could reach into northern (and possibly central) Florida.
In contrast, generally mild weather will prevail from the Pacific Coast to the central and southern Plains. In addition, dry weather will continue during the next 5 days from southern California to the southern Plains.
Looking ahead, the 6- to 10-day outlook calls for the likelihood of near- or above-normal temperatures and precipitation across much of the country.
Cooler-than-normal conditions should be confined to an area stretching from the eastern Gulf Coast region into southern New England, while drier-than-normal weather will be limited to the northern and eastern Corn Belt and the eastern U.S., excluding Maine and the southern tip of Florida.