Arctic Blast Grips Eastern US, Threatening Record Lows and Iguana Immobilization
A dramatic shift in weather patterns is bringing a frigid Arctic blast to much of the eastern United States, following a brief January thaw. Temperatures are forecast to plummet well below average from the Upper Midwest to South Florida, with freezing conditions expected as far south as Jacksonville and Daytona Beach by Friday.
The sudden return of winter will impact a vast region, extending across the eastern half of the US with rounds of snow anticipated for the Great Lakes and Interior Northeast. The chill will also extend into the Southeast, where higher elevations in North Carolina and Tennessee could see snowfall as storms move through.
Temperatures are expected to fall 10–20 degrees below average across Florida by Thursday, with all areas except Miami bracing for the deep freeze. A senior official stated that this dip in the jet stream will allow both Arctic air and repeated winter storms to spill into the Lower 48 from Canada. “While none of these systems are expected to become blockbuster storms, they will restore the snowy and cold conditions,” the official noted Tuesday.
The extreme cold will have a surprising impact on wildlife. Bitter cold air pushing into Florida is predicted to send iguanas plummeting from trees as they become “cold stunned.” Iguanas typically begin to lose mobility when temperatures reach 50 degrees, and can become completely immobilized below that threshold. A striking comparison was made by the FOX Forecast Center: “Tallahassee is forecast to be 26 degrees; meanwhile, Denver—located 1,630 miles away and at an elevation 5,155 feet higher—is forecast to be 27 degrees that same morning.”
The high-pressure system settling over Florida will create calm winds, allowing for a widespread freeze that poses a risk to crops. However, stiff winds wrapping around the system will cause wind chills to plunge into the upper teens, particularly in the Florida Panhandle and South Florida.
While temperatures are set to rebound by Saturday, another surge of Arctic air is expected to arrive by Sunday, driving temperatures down once again across South Florida. High temperatures Sunday and Monday will be up to 15° below average.
This active weather pattern echoes conditions seen throughout much of December, with repeated snowfalls even impacting traditional snowbelts across the Midwest and Northeast. Syracuse, New York, has already received over 83 inches of snow this season, the most in more than a decade. Many of the same snowbelt regions along the Great Lakes are bracing for multiple rounds of snow over the next two weeks, with potential for snowfall to reach the southern Appalachians and even states like Alabama, Georgia, and the Carolinas.
Meanwhile, the West Coast is poised to experience a return to milder conditions after weeks of devastating atmospheric rivers caused historic flooding in parts of California and the Pacific Northwest. While these storms brought much-needed snow to the Cascade and Sierra mountain ranges, they also contributed to deadly avalanches.
This dramatic weather whiplash for the Southeast marks a significant departure from the warmer temperatures experienced across much of the Lower 48 since the start of the New Year, where temperatures were 5-10 degrees above average. Low temperatures across the region are expected to plummet into the 20s by Thursday morning, signaling the start of several weeks of winter chill.
