A colder weather pattern across the central and eastern U.S. will become more fully established over the next five days, with freezes expected by early next week in all areas north of a line from south-central Texas to northern Florida.

Readings below 0°F will be common across the north-central U.S. and, by early next week, should extend deep into the western Corn Belt and possibly across parts of the central Plains, including Kansas. Livestock producers should be preparing for this impending and potentially protracted spell of below-normal temperatures.

A series of fast-moving disturbances will not only help to reinforce the cold pattern – but will also result in periods of precipitation.

Some of the most significant snow may fall during the weekend and early next week from the central Plains into the mid-Atlantic states, including much of the central Corn Belt. Any snow across the northern half of the Plains is patchy and shallow, with no protective snow cover across southern areas.

Meanwhile in the West, generally mild weather will continue, with a new round of Pacific storminess expected to arrive late in the week across northern California and the Northwest.

At the same time, the southwestern snowpack is abysmally low amid ongoing warmth and dryness, with basin-wide snow water equivalencies averaging less than 50% of normal for this time of year as far north as southern Utah.

Related:2025 IPPE to proceed as planned

Looking ahead, the 6- to 10-day outlook calls for the likelihood of below-normal temperatures along a line from southwestern New Mexico to western North Dakota and east of that, while warmer-than-normal weather will prevail across Montana’s high plains and much of the West.

Meanwhile, near- or below-normal precipitation across most of the country should contrast with wetter-than-normal conditions in a few areas, including the High Plains, southern Texas and peninsular Florida.