Bitterly cold air to come in waves across USA into next week

The National Weather Service is predicting wind chills dropping into the teens Thursday night as a strong Arctic cold front drops into the South.

Added by Staff Writers on December 6, 2016.

Thursday night, temperatures will take a tumble behind the departing front, with lows for most in the teens by early Friday morning.

Second, a roaring jet stream at upper levels of the atmosphere, intensified by the difference between the polar air to the north and comparitively mild air to the south, could keep this Arctic blast from overstaying its welcome.

Cold air in the Rockies and Midwest today is moving east, and will send our temperatures below normal starting on Friday. South winds should increase to around 20 miles per hour.

The NWS predicts a high temperature in Burnet of only 39 degrees on Thursday. After reaching a high of 58 degrees in Atlanta by 3 p.m. Wednesday, the latest forecast indicates temperatures will begin a slow drop.

A weak cold front should bring a little cool down for Monday. Overnight temperatures will drop to near zero through the mountains. with isolated valleys below zero.

On Sunday clouds will start to move in from the west in advance of a developing system moving up the OH river valley for Monday. That frigid air will then charge into the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic on Wednesday into Thursday, moderating somewhat but remaining very cold. Another shot of cold air is poised to arrive late next week. This would put the Monday morning or evening commute under the gun for problems. We will not see temperatures that warm again until Sunday! Arctic air is cold, dense, heavy, and doesn’t want to move particularly quickly.

Saturday morning will likely be the coldest day of the season so far.

The cold air outbreak of the next few days is nothing unusual, and neither inconsistent with an overall picture of a warming world, nor evidence that global warming is making cold weather more extreme.