A significant blast of arctic air is headed our way this week, as temperatures plunge from 50s tomorrow to the mid 20s tomorrow night. Even more extraordinarily, highs are unlikely to crack freezing Tuesday or Wednesday. Temperatures this cold this time of year is equivalent to a January day with a high of 15 degrees!
The cold will ease up somewhat Thursday and Friday, but we won’t make a full recovery until this weekend.
Any hype about snow for Friday is unwarranted. Any meaningful snow is unlikely, and if there is precipitation, it is more likely to be snow than rain.
Beyond this week, temperatures look to warm as the high-lattitude blocking responsible for this cold shot (not the polar vortex). Beyond then, all eyes are on the stratosphere to see when we can expect the high-lattitude blocking and cold air to return, both features expected to play a big role in winter 2014-2015.
More on that in the winter outlook, coming tomorrow afternoon.
Forecast made by Josh Karpatkin, Sophomore at Walter Johnson High School