Winter-like temperatures help bring in the New Year

 
The end to 2024 will be a chilly one despite Tuesday's high temperature reaching 38 degrees. While cool, it was still above the average high of 30 for December 31st. And even though we are ending December on a brisk note, it looks like we may wrap up the entire year of 2024 as the second warmest on record. The numbers are still preliminary, and are up through the 30th of December, but even with Tuesday's high of 38 degrees we are likely to hold on to the second warmest spot.

For the rest of tonight skies will remain mostly cloudy following the rain/snow mix we had from earlier in the day. As a few additional disturbances move across the Plains and Midwest tonight there may still be some additional snow flurries or showers overnight. Brisk northwest winds will continue, gusting around 25 mph into the new year. This will help bring overnight lows into the low 20s with wind chills dipping into the low teens.

Mostly cloudy skies can be expected during the day Wednesday with highs reaching the upper 20s. As high pressure briefly moves in Wednesday evening skies will clear enough to bring overnight lows down into the teens. There may be some sunshine to kick off Thursday but increasing cloud cover ahead of a fast-moving system will allow cloud cover to build back in, along with bringing in a few light snow showers during the afternoon and evening.

The big story heading into the new year will be the cold as temperature outlooks favor a higher probability for below average temperatures for the first two weeks of the month. The normal high temperature for the beginning of January is 29 degrees. While we are close to that the first couple of days, a series of colder air masses will move in from the north bringing temperatures down into the low to mid 20s through the weekend and early next week.

This all has to do with the orientation of our jet stream and the movement of air in the mid-latitudes of the atmosphere. Ridging building up the west coast of the United States and Canada will work to dislodge some of the colder air south, spilling it down into the lower 48. As indicated on the temperature outlook maps, you can see the warmth along the West Coast and the cold set to move into much of the eastern seaboard, Ohio and Tennesse Valleys, and Southeast. This also includes us here in the Midwest.