The coldest air many places have seen in years (and even decades) will descend upon the eastern U.S. this evening, producing dangerous and record-breaking low temperatures on Thursday and Friday stretching from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast. Lows close to zero will reach as far south as South Carolina.
This year's dry, warm winter in the western United States will continue virtually unchallenged for the foreseeable future, with little beneficial precipitation expected over the next week. The conditions will only serve to worsen the exceptional drought, leading the way to a potentially devastating wildfire season.
Much of the eastern U.S. is about to plunge into the coldest wave of Arctic air we've seen this winter, and for many, it could feature more sustained cold temperatures than we saw during the Great Polar Vortex Panic of 2014. If that isn't bad enough, the east could see a couple of disruptive winter storms next week.
As we make our way into the sixth weekend of the year, the weather is getting pretty active on either end of the United States. The west is basking in some much-needed rain, while the northeast is getting ready for yet another snowstorm this weekend, all while residents of Denver are wearing shorts.
This week in weather is going to feel like one of those awful afternoons where there's nothing on television but Swamp People and you watch it anyway, because that's your life, pal.
As we approach the end of this godforsaken year, people around the country will flock outside watch their fellow citizens lower some trinket from a rope to signal the arrival of the new year. How cold will it be when you watch the ball, Moon Pie, or big red high heel drop? Let's take a look at your midnight forecast.
Are you enjoying the (sort of) warm weather we've seen for the past day or two? Don't get used to it. A surge of Arctic air will deliver subfreezing highs for most of the country early next week. It won't be anywhere near as bad as last winter's "polar vortex" panic, but it'll be a miserable cold spell just in time for the new year.
Remember all that snow Chicago was supposed to get today? It's 41°F and raining right now. Forecasts were always honest that it might not snow, but seeing the potential for up to six inches of snow on Christmas Eve vanish in a cold, dreary rain is still a shock to the system. Here's why that happened.
A quick series of storm systems approaching the West Coast from the Pacific will bring some beneficial rainfall to most of California and Oregon over the next week. Populated areas of northern California and western Oregon could see several inches of rain, with more at higher elevations.
Gathering around the television to watch football is almost as much of a Thanksgiving tradition as eating half your body weight in turkey and stuffing. The weather can be a make-or-break factor in football games, but will it make a difference this Thanksgiving?
Today is a pretty nice day across much of the country, with mild to warm temperatures in most spots from coast to coast. Enjoy it while it lasts, though, because cold Arctic air is likely to spill down from Canada next week, plunging temperatures 10 to 20 degrees below normal.
"Boo!" is what parents will say when they tote their costumed children around in freezing cold temperatures tonight across much of the country. Unless you enjoy the bone-chilling temperatures, trick-or-treating tonight will be scary cold. Ha! Get it? Scary.
Weather Underground (or "Wunderground") recently launched a campaign to tout their top-of-the-heap forecast accuracy compared other private weather companies. And in classic marketing form, they distorted the hell out of the graph to drive home their point.
Earlier this year, the Storm Prediction Center announced that they're adding two new categories to their severe weather maps in an attempt to better convey the threat for severe weather to the public. They recently announced a date for the transition, sounding the death knell for ridiculous maps like we have today.
When the forecast calls for a 30% chance of rain, it's reasonable to think that the chances of seeing rain are 3 out of 10. But when the forecast calls for a 30% chance of tornadoes, the risk is much higher and much more dangerous. Why is there such a discrepancy between severe weather and rain forecasts?
The Storm Prediction Center's moderate risk for severe weather fell flat today, with most of the severe weather occurring all around the area at highest risk but not much inside of it. Busts happen. They're good for residents but bad for forecaster verification. When it comes to the "crying wolf effect," though, we're actually lucky this kind of bust isn't commonplace.
Temperatures in the northern United States will get relatively cool next week, with models suggesting temperatures ranging 10 to 20 degrees below normal. The cause is something we'll call the SummerPolarVortexmageddon, because it sounds cool and (still) nobody knows what a polar vortex is, anyway.
Parts of the Midwest from Des Moines to the Ohio River are under the gun for severe weather today. While a large chunk of real estate is at risk, it looks like the worst weather — including tornadoes and hail larger than golf balls — seem to favor Chicago this afternoon.
That's not necessarily a bad thing, mind you. This week is a particularly bad week in weather history, with May 20 of last year seeing the horrific tornado in Moore, and May 22 featuring the even worse tornado that struck Joplin in 2011. Thankfully, the weather looks pretty quiet across most of the United States this week.
Heavy rain across much of the country and the potential for a tornado outbreak in parts of the south will make for a crappy start to next week, followed shortly thereafter by a blast of cold air that could be the final gasp of the winter that won't die.
