Deep freeze will cause some US temperatures to drop

On January 3, 2025By Littum

(Bloomberg) — Waves of intense cold will send temperatures to drop as much as 20F (11C) below normal across the central and eastern United States this month, triggering ice storms that could down power lines and snarl travel from the Midwest to the Mid-Atlantic .

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The worst deep freeze will be centered over the Ohio Valley and northern Missouri next week, according to Commodity Weather Group LLC. Cincinnati’s high temperature is only expected to reach 17F on January 8th. The Arctic outbreak is expected to spread south and east the following week, with Mississippi, South Carolina and Florida likely to see abnormally low temperatures.

There is also a chance for a severe ice storm from eastern Kansas into western Virginia through January 5, putting the region at risk for power outages. A winter storm will also sweep across northern Missouri and the Ohio Valley. About 6 inches (15 centimeters) or more of snow is likely in the Central Plains and Mississippi Valley north of Interstate 70, according to the US Weather Prediction Center.

In upstate New York, as much as 1 to 2 feet of snow is likely south of Buffalo through the weekend, the National Weather Service said. Northern Cayuga and Oswego could get up to 3 feet.

This month’s cold means the U.S. could see its coldest January since 2011, according to Paul Pastelok, a meteorologist with AccuWeather Inc. The prices of natural gas and diesel are already rising in response to the forecasts.

Still, the wintry conditions are not expected to compare to the storm four years ago that killed more than 200 people in the central United States and led to the collapse of Texas’ power grid. There is also no sign of a collapse of the polar vortex, the belt of winds trapping cold air near the poles. That scenario about a decade ago triggered a cold blast in the eastern United States.

High temperatures in Texas will likely drop into the 40s F next week, which is about 15F below normal, said Steve Fano, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Dallas-Fort Worth. Fano said the worst of the cold around Dallas will begin to subside by Jan. 10 or 11, and then temperatures should return to normal by the middle of the month.