An incoming arctic air mass is expected to blow “the coldest air of the season” across much of the US in the days leading up to Christmas, bringing dangerously cold temperatures and threatening treacherous travel conditions for the holidays, they warned the meteorologists.
The polar air will bring “extreme and prolonged freezing conditions to southern Mississippi and southeastern Louisiana,” the National Weather Service (NWS) said in a special weather statement on Sunday.
“We’re looking at temperatures well below normal, potentially record low temperatures before the Christmas holidays,” NWS meteorologist Zack Taylor said.
Mississippi may be affected by the coldest air the state has seen in at least five years, FOX Weather reported.
BIG WINTER STORM IN LANE FOR CHRISTMAS WEEK, FORECASTERS SAY
By Thursday night, forecasters are forecasting temperatures to drop to as low as 50 degrees in Jackson, Mississippi, while temperatures in Nashville may drop as low as 5 degrees.
Temperatures in the Northern Rocky Mountains, the Northern and Central Plains, and the Upper Midwest were expected to dip below freezing, according to the outlet.
On Tuesday, low temperatures could reach minus 30 degrees in parts of Montana and North Dakota, temperatures that threaten to freeze in as little as 10 minutes, forecasters said.
As parts of North Dakota saw snow on Friday, a trio of snowplows cleared Century Avenue near Jaycee Park in Bismarck.
(Tom Stromme/The Bismarck Tribune via AP)
The strong arctic front is forecast to cross the eastern two-thirds of the country in the days leading up to Christmas, which could bring “the coldest air of the season,” according to the latest forecasts from the federal Weather Prediction Center in College Park. , Maryland. .
The arctic air mass is marching south from Canada.
(Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)
TEXAS AND ITS POWER GRID PREPARE FOR A HOLIDAY COLD SNAP AMID NATIONAL FREEZE
After the Northeast was already battered by a previous storm system that buried parts of the region under two feet of snow, the center warned that the incoming arctic cold will hit much of the eastern US and the southern coast. Gulf on Friday and the weekend.
North Florida cities like Jacksonville, Tallahassee and Pensacola have forecast lows of 20 on Christmas Eve, with highs around 40.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“Our confidence is growing, and what that means is there’s more agreement on the forecast data, so a significant winter storm is more likely,” said FOX Weather meteorologist Amy Freeze. “The moment right now is that this could last until Christmas weekend. For some, it’s a nightmare. For others, this could be dreaming of a white Christmas come true.”
Associated Press contributed to this report.
