A major Arctic cold blast is headed for the central United States. The National Weather Service (NWS) in Dallas, Texas is warning of a hazardous cold event coming next week. The NWS says:
All of North & Central Texas will experience hazardous cold early next week. Some areas may drop to below 10 degrees Sunday night into Monday morning. There’s medium confidence (30-50%) that areas along and north of I-20 stay below freezing all day Monday! Monitor the forecast this week and begin taking precautions to protect the 4 P’s: People, Pets, Plants, and Pipes!
As seen in the forecast map below from weathermodels.com, the arctic blast will essentially impact the entire contiguous United States, dropping temperatures well below normal even into normally warmer places such as south Texas, Florida, and California.
According to the analysis map, the Lower 48 forecast is for an average low temperature on Monday morning January 15th of a bone-chilling 9.6°F. The analysis further shows:
- Almost 88% of the Lower 48 area will be at/below 32°F, with 96% below 40°F.
- Nearly 1/3 of the Lower 48 area will be at/below 0°F.
- That puts 242 million of the U.S. population below freezing.
This forecast graphic suggests Texas, for example, will see dangerously cold temperatures lasting for more than 2-days.
The NWS models forecast that Dallas will experience below freezing temperatures of 12°-14°F Monday night through Tuesday morning with the entire state below freezing, well into the teens and 20s on Tuesday morning. That 12°F forecast would be coldest January temperature for Dallas since January 20, 1985 (10°F).