A severe cold front will be bringing arctic air throughout the United States next week. Similar to Monday’s forecast, weather experts as well as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predict that temperatures well below average for the typical January will impact the majority of the continental US starting this weekend on Saturday, January 18, 2025. It is likely that at least one winter storm will form due to this upcoming arctic front. Here’s how cold it may get by the beginning of next week.
How cold will temperatures get this weekend?
Temperatures are expected to reach as low as -20 degrees Fahrenheit in North Dakota by Sunday, January 19, but most of the United States will be feeling below-average temperatures, with parts of Texas, Arkansas, and Tennessee in the 20s.
The weather map above is a forecast for Sunday, as reported by Max Schuster (also known as Max Velocity on YouTube). According to early models, a jet stream coming down from Canada near Idaho and Montana will begin to form on Saturday. This will bring an arctic chill into the heart of the United States, with the cold snap expected to remain as long as Thursday, January 23.
If there are any sub-zero temperatures next week in the US, it will likely be centered around Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana. Meanwhile, the southern states from New Mexico to North Carolina could experience temperatures in the 20s. States in the Ohio Valley and New England might have temperatures in the teens without factoring in wind chill.
The future forecast by the NOAA on January 13, looking at the temperature outlooks from January 19 to January 23, predicts that the states in the Ohio Valley will very likely become the coldest. This includes Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi. The NOAA has not yet issued an extreme cold warning or winter weather advisory yet, but either might be officially issued as we get closer to the weekend.
This weather pattern, if it holds, would be conducive to winter storms, particularly if moisture from the Gulf of Mexico hits the cold front, creating snow, sleet, and freezing rain across the South similar to Winter Storm Cora.
