Coming Arctic Surge Could Herald Record Cold Temperatures

Coming Arctic Surge Could Herald Record Cold Temperatures
National Weather Service forecast depicting the low temperatures across the United States for Tuesday, Nov. 12. (Image: National Weather Service)
Alan McDonnell
11/8/2019
Updated:
11/8/2019

A fresh Arctic surge is powering down through the United States and could herald record-breaking low temperatures in the middle of next week.

According to the National Weather Service (NWS), record lows for mid-November could be recorded as far south as Texas and from Arizona to the east coast. A cold front is expected to move south on Saturday and Sunday, bringing night-time temperatures in the northern Midwest states to the teens. Meanwhile, the NWS has issued freeze warnings right down to the Gulf of Mexico later on Monday.

According to the NWS, “Temperatures will remain well below normal into next week across much of the eastern two-thirds of the United States as a result of another arctic air mass surging southward from the Northern Plains to the Central/Southern Plains, and eventually eastward to the East Coast.”

According to NWS, over 170 record lows for the time of year could be recorded between Monday and Wednesday. The Weather Channel stated that “It’s cold now, but an arctic surge early next week is forecast to shatter mid-November records over much of the eastern half of the country. And the Deep South is not off the hook.”

Temperatures will plummet as the weather system moves southward across the Plains and Midwest on Sunday, to the Ohio Valley on Monday, before reaching as far as the Gulf and East coasts on Tuesday.

At its most intense, this cold front could bring single-digit lows to the central Plains by Tuesday, with temperatures in the northern Plains sinking below zero. Temperatures in the Deep South could fall to the 20s in Houston and New Orleans, with almost freezing temperatures in the Florida Panhandle.

On Wednesday, Boston, New York City, and the nation’s capital could all see low temperatures again in the 20s.