More Harsh Winter Weather on the Way

The winter has begun with an abundance of severe storms and extreme cold across the United States, and the combination of Arctic cold and an active storm track is destined to produce more harsh -- if not extreme -- weather for much of the country during the rest of January.

The cold weather will come in waves, with intense, Arctic cold possible from the Pacific Northwest to New England later this month. The storms will generally begin in the Pacific Northwest and Northern Rockies and could spawn significant winter storms from the Plains to the East Coast.

The first wave of cold will extend from the northern Plains to the Northeast and mid-Atlantic region through this weekend, with temperatures averaging 5 to 10 degrees colder than the already-cold January normals. Additional cold air, most likely more intense, will follow and cover a larger portion of the country as the month progresses.

This week's cold includes the region from Philadelphia to Boston, where a few days of warm weather melted much of the snow from the post-Christmas blizzard. But a late week/early weekend Atlantic storm might increase snow cover.

The Atlantic storm will be much more disorganized and less intense than the recent blizzard, but a band of accumulating snow is possible from later Friday through Saturday, especially from New York City to Boston.

From next week and beyond, the weather focus will shift to growing Arctic cold air currently building in northern and central Canada, where temperatures have plummeted to between minus 10 and minus 25 degrees Fahrenheit this week.

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A southward dip in the jet stream will force some of that cold air southward and eastward into the Rockies, Plains and Midwest next week, but the coldest air will not arrive until the second half of the month. The bitter cold will also become more widespread, affecting the northern tier of the country and perhaps parts of the South, although the extreme cold will most likely remain to the north of Florida.

In the core of the cold from the Rockies to the upper Midwest, daytime temperatures might hold below zero, with nighttime temperatures well below zero.

The snow in the Rockies and the mountains of the Pacific Northwest will add to the growing avalanche threat, and the storms and cold could merge to produce long-tracking winter storms from the Rockies to the East Coast.