Record cold from the Midwest to East Coast on Thursday and Friday

We’re only a few days into meteorological winter but the season already feels entrenched in much of eastern half of the United States. It’ll turn colder to end the work week in many spots, and more wintry weather risks are possibly around the corner.

Weather watch

Record cold. Numerous record lows and record cold highs are forecast from Iowa and the Midwest to the East Coast for Thursday and Friday. Thursday morning Temperatures are expected to dip to minus-15 or so in Iowa, including a minus-12 in Des Moines that would demolish the record for the date from 1886. On Friday morning, records are possible from around Chicago (temperatures near 0) to New York City (temperatures in the teens to near 20).

Mid-Atlantic snow? Another in our recent series of storm systems is getting underway across the southeast Texas region Wednesday into Thursday. It’ll spread a low-end flood risk eastward across the northern Gulf Coast over the next few days. On Friday, the northern end of the storm could deliver some snow from Kentucky through the coastal Mid-Atlantic. There are still questions to intensity (not too strong, most likely), whether or not there will be much snow on the north end, plus where it falls.

Lightning links

Travel snarled as first nor'easter of La Niña winter season slams East Coast with rain, ice and snow. (Julian Atienza and Kevin Fitzgerald, FOX Weather)

Polar vortex to bring triple whammy of Arctic cold to US through mid-December. (Alex Sosnowski, Accu Weather)

Cyclone catastrophe in Sri Lanka awakens volunteer spirit. (Ishara Danasekara and Koh Ewe, BBC)

Meteorological Fall 2025 Superlatives: Which Cities Were Hot, Which Were Wet And Which Were Dry. (Sara Tonks, The Weather Channel)

About

Weekday MWF morning newsletter by a journalist/forecaster. Connecting weather and climate change dots while occasionally stirring the pot.

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