Arctic Blast to Bring Dangerous New Year Cold to Much of US

Residents from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast are about to trade T-shirts for parkas as this year ends and a new one begins. Forecasters say two strong Arctic cold fronts will sweep across the northern United States next week, setting up spots of hazardous cold and lake-effect snow, per USA Today. "A pair of potent cold fronts will plunge into the northern tier of the United States as 2025 ends and 2026 begins," warns AccuWeather senior meteorologist Renee Duff, adding that each front will trigger a sharp temperature drop.

Subfreezing air is projected to reach the Gulf Coast by Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center. The swing will be abrupt: High temperatures may fall more than 30 degrees in 24 hours from Sunday to Monday, especially over the Ohio Valley, Duff says. In Indianapolis, a high in the low 60s on Sunday is expected to be replaced by temps in the mid-20s on Monday.

By Tuesday, daytime readings in the 20s and 30s should be widespread across the Northeast, with teens and single digits in parts of the Upper Midwest. A secondary surge of Arctic air is forecast to drop southeast from Canada around New Year's Day, reinforcing the chill. Meanwhile, down South, some counties in Florida could see their "coldest temperatures of the season," with cold-weather advisories and freeze warnings expected, per the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

Still, the Weather Prediction Center doesn't expect this outbreak to break many records. Looking beyond the cold spell, forecasters see January resembling late December, with generally above-normal temperatures across much of the southern two-thirds of the country, says Weather.com meteorologist Jonathan Belles, per USA Today. He noted that February could bring the relatively warmest conditions, compared with average temps, along the East Coast. A strengthening polar vortex in the upper atmosphere early in 2026 should limit prolonged cold in the Lower 48, though periodic storms could still deliver short-lived shots of chillier, wetter weather.