An Arctic air mass is headed to the Mid-Atlantic/Northeast US for the weekend with its origins on the Siberian side of the North Pole. This Arctic blast will be directly discharged to us from eastern Canada as compared with the more conventional “northwest-to-southeast” route that travels over the Great Lakes. The cold front at the leading edge of this bitter cold air mass will be quite active with strong support in the upper part of the atmosphere, likely leading to some accumulating snow on Friday afternoon and evening, and perhaps a few snow squalls will mix into the picture. In addition to the bitter cold, biting and potentially damaging winds will become a major factor on both weekend days with gusts of 50+ mph producing dangerously low wind chill levels of well below zero in many locations.
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Solar cycle 25 has potentially passed through its maximum phase during the latter part of 2025 (don’t really know for sure until after the fact), but it continues to be very active time with lots of sunspot activity in recent weeks. One particular sunspot region known officially as AR4366 has grown rapidly in recent days and it has become the most active sunspot of solar cycle 25. This sunspot region is now more than ten times wider than Earth and is moving into a position that more directly faces our planet. The rapid growth of AR4366 has made the sunspot region unstable and it has indeed unleashed dozens of solar flares during the past few days. More explosions are quite likely and - given its movement in the near-term - all eyes are closely monitoring the situation.
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It was a little past 1 AM on February 3rd, 1959 when American musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson were killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa along with pilot Roger Peterson. Weather conditions were certainly contributing factors in the plane crash as there was poor visibility on that cold night with snow blowing across the runway. Hours before, Holly and his tour mates were on the eleventh night of their “Winter Dance Party” tour through the snow-covered Midwest. It was a Monday and a school night, but 1,100 teenagers crammed into the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa for two sold out shows with the second one ending around midnight. The event later became known as “The Day the Music Died” after singer-songwriter Don McLean referred to it as such in his 1971 song “American Pie” which paid homage to the tragedy of February 3rd, 1959.
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Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this morning suggesting there will be six more weeks of winter, and I certainly have faith in all Pennsylvania prognosticators. One thing is for sure...the next 7 days will feature more in the way of well below-normal temperatures, and the upcoming weekend will be bitterly cold across the Mid-Atlantic/Northeast US with a direct discharge of Arctic air from eastern Canada. The Arctic front at the leading edge of this brutally cold air mass can produce snow showers and squalls on Friday, and powerful winds will add to the misery on both weekend days. The big cities from DC-to-Boston will likely experience single digit lows once again during the weekend and wind chills will be at dangerously low levels on both days.
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The bitter cold weather pattern continues across the eastern states during the next few days with significant impacts reaching all the way down to southern Florida. In fact, the temperature will drop to near freezing in Miami by Sunday morning and zero-degree overnight lows are on the table during the next couple of nights in the Mid-Atlantic’s I-95 corridor. In addition to the cold, there will be explosive cyclogenesis this weekend near the east coast with biggest impacts from storm system likely to be across portions of Virginia, the Carolinas, and eastern New England as well. The I-95 region from DC-to-Philly-to-NYC will not go unscathed with a noticeable increase in winds from later Saturday into Sunday and there can be some snow with small accumulations on the table.
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The next few days will produce some of the worst of the cold for the Mid-Atlantic region with overnight lows way down in single digits or even near the zero-degree mark. Some record low temperatures are likely during this 3-day bitter cold spell and there can be some record low high temperatures as well with afternoon highs generally confined to the teens in many spots. Later this weekend, a big push of Arctic will be into the Southeast US and Florida can experience near freezing temperatures all the way to Miami by Sunday morning (watch for falling iguanas).
On the storm front, low pressure will develop near the Southeast US coastline on Saturday and then dramatically intensify as it moves over the western Atlantic Ocean somewhere to the east of the southern Mid-Atlantic region. The central pressure of this weekend storm could drop to similar levels as a category 2 or even category 3 hurricane and winds will become quite powerful. At this point, it appears the biggest impact from the weekend storm system will be confined to places like eastern North Carolina, southern Virginia, and the along coastal sections farther up the coast (e.g., New Jersey, Delmarva)…still a few days to go so stay tuned.
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In the wake of the major weekend winter storm, a very cold weather pattern has set up across the eastern states, and it looks like it’ll be quite a memorable stretch both in terms of magnitude and duration. A long-wave trough parked over the eastern US is allowing for the reinforcement of Arctic air masses with an especially bitter one coming to the Mid-Atlantic region for the second half of the week. Low temperatures on Wednesday night, Thursday night, and Friday night are likely to flirt with the zero-degree mark in many locations and challenge low temperature records. In addition, there may be record low high temperatures later in the week with afternoon highs likely limited to the teens - even in the big cities.
In addition to the relentless bitter cold, it looks like a powerful storm system will form this weekend somewhere near the eastern seaboard. This system is likely to have its origins over the Gulf region and then push northeastward to near the east coast while intensifying dramatically. It is still too early to determine its ultimate path, but a close trek to the coast could indeed bring significant snowfall and strong winds to portions of the northeastern states.
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In the wake of the major weekend winter storm, a very cold weather pattern is setting up in the Mid-Atlantic region, and it looks like it’ll be quite a memorable stretch both in terms of magnitude and duration. There may be record low temperatures in coming days as well as record low high temperatures; especially, in the period of the 29th to the 31st. In addition to the cold, there are signals for a powerful storm this weekend over the western Atlantic and it certainly can become a big-time snow producer for portions of the northeastern states.
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Temperatures plunged in the overnight hours as the latest in a series of Arctic air outbreaks spread eastward to the Mid-Atlantic region setting the stage for a major winter storm with big-time disruptions. This storm will bring significant snowfall to the DC-to-Philly-to-NYC corridor and a changeover to sleet and freezing rain will exacerbate problems with an ice buildup in some areas, unfortunately, raising the chance of power outages. The precipitation lasts into early Monday, suggesting there will be travel impacts as the new work week begins. Bitter cold air will follow the storm with low temperatures likely flirting with the zero-degree mark in many spots along the I-95 corridor.
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A major winter storm is headed to the Mid-Atlantic region, and it will bring significant snowfall to the DC-to-Philly-to-NYC corridor and there will be some icing as well. The stage will be set for the winter storm with the arrival of Arctic air into the Mid-Atlantic region in the overnight hours and it’ll remain below freezing throughout the weekend weather event. The icing would be predominately in the form of sleet; however, freezing rain can get involved in some areas which always raises a red flag for the potential of power outages due to an ice buildup. Bitter cold air will follow the storm with low temperatures likely flirting with the zero-degree mark next week even in the big cities.
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