A classic early season cold pattern is here. A shot of arctic air Thursday night into Friday, a slight ease, then another blast early next week. Rinse, repeat. Zooming out to the 500 mb level, a trough keeps lobes of cold rotating through the East; around Dec 12–14 there’s a brief moderation, but another polar vortex dip recharges into the Plains/Midwest and aims at New England. Translation: we’ll sneak a few seasonable-ish days in, but colder-than-average wins the two-week scorecard.
Temperatures:
Daytime highs spend a lot of time in the 30s, dropping to the 20s during the chillier pulses. Overnight lows turn frigid: single digits/teens Thursday night and again early next week (some subzero pockets far North)….and as you can imagine, any breeze means wind chill values will be running even colder.
Precipitation & snow:
The SE U.S. looks wetter than average; the nation’s midsection stays relatively dry. Along the East Coast we’re near normal overall, but far northern New England is favored for above-normal snowfall thanks to frequent upslope events and lake/clipper support. The snowpack continues to expand across the Lakes, interior Northeast, and mountains. In southern New England, cold shots open the door for occasional light snow with clippers/squalls, but many bigger southern-stream systems may pass south of us unless they can link up with some of the northern stream energy.
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