Clipper Systems Bringing Rounds Of Cold Air and Chances Of Snow For Midwest, Northeast
- - Clipper Systems Bringing Rounds Of Cold Air and Chances Of Snow For Midwest, Northeast
Jennifer Gray December 6, 2025 at 11:20 PM
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A fresh blast of cold arctic air brought on by a clipper system has sent temperatures plunging below zero in parts of the upper Midwest after record cold hit the nation's Heartland last week.
This is the first of a series of clipper systems that will move through the Midwest and the Northeast, bringing new shots of cold air and chances of more snow throughout the week.
Timing The Arctic Blast
Saturday: A second shot of cold air begins pushing into the Northern Plains and upper Midwest on Saturday. While this front won't be as cold as the first, it will reinforce those cold temperatures. Highs could drop to the teens and even the single digits across parts of Montana, North Dakota and northern Minnesota.
Sunday: The worst cold spreads to the rest of Minnesota and begins to move into western Wisconsin and northern Iowa. Here highs could only reach the single digits or the teens, including Minneapolis may only reach 12 degrees.
Monday: The colder air will then sweep south and eastward on Monday, plunging temperatures across the Appalachians and I-95 corridor.
Places like Philadelphia, New York and Boston will drop by as much as 10 between Sunday and Monday. Their high temperatures may not make it much above freezing Monday or Tuesday afternoon. Breezy conditions along this stretch of I-95 and the coast will make temperatures feel even colder.
Tuesday: Lows Tuesday morning could plunge into the teens and 20s along much of the I-95 corridor as far south as Baltimore, or even the D.C. suburbs, with subzero cold possible again in upstate New York and northern New England. A few daily record lows could be threatened again in the Northeast.
(MAPS: 10-Day US Forecast Highs/Lows)
Will There Be Any Snow?
There aren't any major snowmakers expected in the Northern Tier over the next several days, but the series of clippers bringing the cold air could lead to steadily accumulating snow into next week, especially in the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest.
Record Cold Last Week
Wednesday, Aberdeen, South Dakota, tied its daily record low of minus 18 degrees.
Thursday morning, temperatures in the teens below zero were reported in parts of Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Wind chills in the 20s below zero were also reported in some of these same areas.
Record cold on Friday stretched across the Great Lakes and Northeast. Temperatures in Flint, Michigan, fell to minus 3 degrees, smashing the previous daily record of 6 degrees (set in 1991). Fort Wayne, Indiana, also saw a low of -3 on Friday, which broke the previous record of -2 (set in 1964). Other daily low records were set in Detroit, Michigan; Newark, New Jersey; Youngstown, Ohio; Poughkeepsie, New York; and Montpelier, Vermont.
West Tells A Different Story
While the East shivers, the West has a very different story.
Above average temperatures are draped all across much of the region with temperatures running up to 10 degrees above average through the rest of the weekend and into next week.
Las Vegas has multiple days of highs near or above 70 degrees this week.
While not that warm, above-average temperatures will spread to the Plains by early next week, which is some much-needed good news.
Take Sioux Falls, South Dakota, for example.
Their high on Sunday is a pitiful 11 degrees, but fast-forward to Tuesday, their high is 40 degrees.
Now this isn't record warmth, but hopefully everyone enjoys the nice change and break from the cold.
Highs in the 50s could surge as far north as Montana and 60s could briefly return to Denver early next week.
Consider it a brief pause, on the many months left for wintertime cold.
Jennifer Gray is 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.
Source: “AOL Breaking”
