Chill out: Arctic blast on the way for the new year
An Arctic blast is forecast to usher in multiple waves of dangerous cold to the Midwest and Northeast next week, forecasters warn.
“A pair of potent cold fronts will plunge into the northern tier of the United States as 2025 ends and 2026 begins,” said Renee Duff, AccuWeather senior meteorologist, in an online forecast. “Behind each front, temperatures will drop and the lake-effect snow machine will be flipped on.”
How cold? Subfreezing temperatures are predicted as far south as the Gulf Coast by Tuesday , according to a forecast map from the Weather Prediction Center.
“Temperatures will fall off a cliff to start the New Year 2026 across the Great Lakes, Northeast, and into Southeast,” said Weather Trader meteorologist Ryan Maue on X.
Extreme cold returns after reprieve
The drop in temperatures from the recent mild spell will be shocking in some areas.
High temperatures could drop more than 30 degrees over the 24-hour time period from Sunday to Monday, with the greatest plunge in temperatures expected over the Ohio Valley, Duff said. In Indianapolis, for example, Monday ’s high is expected to be in the mid-20s, following near-record warmth in the low 60s on Sunday .
Daytime temperatures in the 20s and 30s will be common throughout the Northeast by Tuesday , with teens and single digits expected across the Upper Midwest, AccuWeather said.
Reinforcing blast of Arctic air
A reinforcing burst of Arctic air is expected to plunge southeast from Canada and into the Northeast right around the flip of the calendar to 2026.
“Into early January, the coldest air will be across western Canada, but colder air masses can occasionally be pulled south behind storms in the Rockies and Plains, then into the East briefly,” AccuWeather meteorologist Paul Pastelok said.
Though cold, temperatures with this Arctic blast are not expected to reach record levels, the Weather Prediction Center said in an online forecast.
What’s the forecast for 2026?
January is likely to be a continuation of the end-of-December pattern, which featured above-average warmth across much of the southern two-thirds of the country, according to an online forecast from Weather.com meteorologist Jonathan Belles.
He added that February could feature the nation’s warmest (relative to average) weather along the East Coast.
The forecast is dependent on the stratospheric polar vortex, which is likely to strengthen in the beginning of the new year, Belles said. This means that extended rounds of cold air down here in the U.S. are less likely, although storm systems will bring wetter, cooler weather from time to time.