An arctic blast is expected to bring multiple dangerous cold waves to the Midwest and Northeast next week, forecasters warn.
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An arctic blast is expected to bring multiple dangerous cold waves to the Midwest and Northeast next week, forecasters warn.
“As 2025 ends and 2026 begins, a strong cold front will move into the northern United States,” AccuWeather senior meteorologist Renee Duff said in an online forecast. “Behind each front, temperatures will drop and lake effect snow removal will kick in.”
How cold is it? Temperatures as far south as the Gulf Coast are expected to drop below freezing by Tuesday, Dec. 30, according to the Weather Prediction Center’s forecast map.
“We’re going to see a sharp drop in temperatures across the Great Lakes and into the Northeast and Southeast as we enter the new year of 2026,” Weather Trader meteorologist Ryan Maue said on the X show.
Even after the extreme cold temporarily subsides, it returns again.
The drop in temperatures due to the recent mild weather will be shocking in some areas.
Duff said high temperatures could drop more than 30 degrees in the 24-hour period from Sunday, Dec. 28 to Monday, Dec. 29, with the biggest temperature drop expected in the Ohio Valley. In Indianapolis, for example, high temperatures are expected to be in the mid-20s on Monday, Dec. 29, following near-record warm temperatures in the low 60s on Sunday, Dec. 28.
Daytime temperatures are expected to be in the 20s to 30s across the Northeast by Tuesday, Dec. 30, and in the teens to single digits in the Upper Midwest, according to AccuWeather.
The strength of the arctic atmosphere increases
Around 2026, when the calendar changes, the polar atmosphere is expected to increase in strength and move southeastward from Canada and into the northeast.
“The coldest air will move through western Canada into early January, but a colder air mass could be drawn south behind storms in the Rockies and Plains before briefly drifting east,” said AccuWeather meteorologist Paul Pastelok.
Although cold, temperatures from the latest Arctic blast are not expected to reach record levels, the weather forecast center said in an online forecast.
What are the predictions for 2026?
January will likely continue the pattern of late December, which featured above-average warmth across most of the country’s southern two-thirds, according to online forecasts from Weather.com meteorologist Jonathan Bells.
He added that February could be the warmest in the country (relative to average) along the East Coast.
Bells said the forecast depends on the polar vortex in the stratosphere, which is likely to strengthen by the start of the year. This means that although storm systems will occasionally bring wetter, cooler weather, the cold air is unlikely to blow in here in the U.S. for long.
Doyle Rice is a national correspondent for USA TODAY, specializing in weather and climate.
