Sick of winter? January thaw coming for eastern half of US

Folks sick of winter’s cold should see a reprieve from the icy weather , forecasters said.

Temperatures are likely to be much warmer than average across a wide expanse of the country, according to a forecast released Friday from the National Weather Service.

“Milder air will surge east next week as winter takes a breather,” said Washington Post meteorologist Ben Noll on X on Friday .

The warmth will be a welcome relief from the recent cold pattern that’s overspread much of the nation.

Pattern change

Large-scale climate patterns that guide our weather will be shifting next week, forecasters said. Senior Meteorologist Noah Bergren from FOX35Orlando on an X post Friday called for a “BIG pattern flip starting mid-next week, lasting through about January 11th.”

Parts of the nation that have been seeing persistent cold for weeks will finally see milder temperatures later next week.

“Beyond early next week, the dip in the jet stream in the Northeast, which has been responsible for the waves of Arctic air, will retreat into Canada,” according to an online forecast from Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather senior meteorologist.

Unseasonably warm

Notably warmer weather is likely in the east, particularly the Northeast “where it’s been a popsicle of late,” Bergren said. “In Florida, I could see a few days 80-85 degrees Jan. 9-11!”

The weather service said that temperatures will also be quite warm in the Plains, where temperatures of 15 to 30 degrees above average will be common. Daily records for warm lows and highs could be set across the intermountain West and Plains.

Unseasonably warm weather will then gradually expand and spread eastward through the week, bringing temperatures that are some 15 to 25 degrees above average to the Mississippi Valley and eventually 10 degrees above average for the East Coast, after a colder than average start to the week across the Northeast, the weather service said.

By Wednesday , 50-degree highs will push as far north as Philadelphia, according to Weather.com.

However, the West and Southwest should remain near or below normal temperature-wise much of the week.

What about snow?

A parade of clipper storms and frigid air from Canada will continue to cause wintry woes for travelers from the Great Lakes region to parts of the Northeast through this weekend and for the first day back to work and school for millions on Monday, Sosnowski said.

In spite of the warmer temperatures, areas with snow cover that become wet from melting during the day may freeze at night, posing ⁠hazards for pedestrians and motorists, AccuWeather meteorologist Alyssa Glenny said.

The trend toward milder temperatures is forecast to be associated with below-average snowfall for much of the United States into ⁠mid-January, Noll said on X.