A stormy start to the New Year ahead across the Heartland

Weather

A stormy start to the New Year ahead across the Heartland

Unsettled, showery conditions will linger across much of the West through New Year’s Eve, followed by a brief period of cold, dry weather.

Weekend freezes may occur in typically temperate areas such as California’s San Joaquin Valley.

By early next week, a new round of Pacific storminess will arrive across the western U.S., starting in northern California and the Northwest. Meanwhile, colder air will also spread into the South early next week, although freezes are not expected in winter agricultural regions of southern Texas and peninsular Florida.

In advance of the cold outbreak, a significant precipitation and severe-weather event will unfold across parts of the central and eastern U.S.

Accumulating snow should develop on New Year’s Eve across portions of the central Plains and spread northeastward, reaching northern New England by January 2.

In the South, extending as far north as the Ohio River, locally severe thunderstorms will erupt on New Year’s Eve and sweep eastward toward the southern Atlantic Coast by January 2.

In addition, 5-day rainfall totals could reach 2 to 4 inches or more in thunderstorm-affected areas.

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