As if the Thanksgiving blast of cold air wasn't enough, an even colder shot of arctic air will dive into the country by the end of the week bringing even colder temperatures.
This time daily records could be broken from the mid-Mississippi Valley to the Midwest and even into parts of the mid-Atlantic and Northeast.
Dozens Of Records Could Fall
We could see several dozen daily record lows across more than a dozen states either tied or broken Thursday and Friday morning. These stretch from the Plains and Midwest to the Northeast. Places like Cedar Rapids and Des Moines, Iowa, as well as La Crosse, Wisconsin, could all break record morning lows.
We are talking not just temperatures below freezing, butbelow zero.A pretty significant chunk of the Midwest and Northern Plains will wake up Thursday morning below zero.
The afternoons won't offer much warmth either. More than a dozen record cold high temperatures could be felt from Missouri to Michigan, and a few even sprinkled in the Northeast.
Here's a look at where the record cold will be.
Timing The Arctic Blast
This next round of cold will begin arriving in the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest on Wednesday. Highs across portions of North Dakota and Minnesota will only make it to the single digits.
Thursday:Thursday morning, the big freeze will dive down as far south as Oklahoma. Morning lows will drop as much as 10 to 15 degreesbelow zerofor a wide swath of the Midwest and Northern Plains. Even Iowa and southern Nebraska will feel the bitter cold, sub zero temperatures.
If the forecast for Des Moines holds on Thursday morning, and they drop to their forecast temperature of -12 degrees, this would be the coldest temperature ever recorded this early in the season.
Meanwhile, places as far south as Kansas and Missouri will bottom out in the 20s.
Afternoon temperatures won't help much as temperatures will stay below freezing for millions Thursday afternoon. Temperatures across portions of the Midwest will run 20-25 degrees above average. Green Bay, Detroit and Milwaukee could all break records for coldest high temperatures.
Even places as far south as Oklahoma City will struggle to make it above freezing.
The widespread freezing temperatures will extend well into the mid-South and eastward into the Ohio Valley.
Friday:Friday morning the cold dips even further south and east. The 20s will be felt as far south as the Texas Panhandle and Little Rock. The Midwest and Ohio Valley will largely start the day with temperatures in the teens. And even the busy I-95 corridor will wake up in the low 20s on Friday morning.
Baltimore, Philadelphia and even New York City could break record lows Friday morning.
The Northeast will struggle to make it above freezing Friday afternoon. While the Midwest and Plains begin to "warm up," temperatures will still only be in the 20s for afternoon highs.
Will There Be Any Snow?
I'm glad you asked! This front will be on the drier side, however, there will be a little snow possible for the extreme northern tier of the country ahead of the cold front for parts of the Midwest, Ohio Valley and interior portions of the Northeast. Most areas outside the Great Lakes snowbelts shouldn't pick up more than a dusting from this.
The first full week of meteorological winter is here, living up to its name.
Jennifer Grayis a weather and climate writer for weather.com. She has been covering some of the world's biggest weather and climate stories for the last two decades.
