4 U.S. Regions Most Likely to Have a Record-Cold December
It doesn’t matter where you live: No one likes having to prepare themselves for another harsh winter. The thought of shoveling mountains of snow and dealing with frigid, blustery conditions is enough to make anyone want to curl up on the couch until March. But even though we expect the temperatures to drop every year, there’s reason to believe that some areas could see an especially cold December.
RELATED: 4 Regions That Will Be Unusually Windy This November and December.
The potentially chilly conditions could come because of a weather anomaly known as sudden stratospheric warming (SSW), The Washington Post reports. Contrary to its name, the term refers to a relatively rare occurrence when the winds in the upper levels of Earth’s atmosphere become warmer and weaker. The change can often impact the polar vortex—a term many dread hearing in their weather forecasts—that can bring frigid air from near the North Pole further south into inhabited areas.
As a result, meteorologists are now warning that some areas could see a significant drop in temperatures immediately following Thanksgiving and into much of next month. Here are the regions most likely to have a record-cold December in 2025.
1 | Upper Midwest
Fall has felt a lot more like winter for parts of the Midwest, which already took the brunt of an Arctic blast that dropped snow across the region earlier this month. However, things could be getting even chillier in the coming weeks.
In a long-range forecast issued on Nov. 14, the National Weather Service (NWS) predicted that northern central parts of the U.S. would likely be facing colder-than-average temperatures during the outlook period of Nov. 29 through Dec. 12. The agency says a “transition to a colder pattern is forecast” across much of the region, warning that the pattern change “favors a transition to more winter-like conditions…including much below normal temperatures and the potential for heavy snow.”
The recently released map shows that Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri all show some risk, while Michigan, Wisconsin, and Iowa show even more probability of colder conditions. However, Minnesota currently has the highest risk of the “winter-like” conditions in the Midwest through the beginning of December.
2 | Northern Plains
Things are looking fairly similar to the area due just west of the Great Lakes. The northernmost Plains States are also expected to see cold, per the NWS long-range forecast issued earlier this week. The entire state of North Dakota and most of South Dakota fall within the zone of highest probability for below-average temperatures, with a portion of northern Nebraska also affected.
This isn’t the only outlook that forecasts particularly frigid conditions in the area. According to the U.S. 2-week hazards outlook map issued by the NWS on Nov. 24, both North and South Dakota are at “slight risk” of “much below normal temperatures.”
RELATED: 4 U.S. Regions Most at Risk of “Deadly Flooding,” New Data Shows.
3 | Montana & the Northern Rockies
Chilly temperatures are still expected even further west. The Northern Rockies fall under the NWS forecast for below-average temperatures, with Idaho and Wyoming facing a decent likelihood of below-average temperatures. However, most of eastern Montana and northeastern Wyoming fall within the highest probability category.
It’s also worth noting that much of this region is under a “slight risk” of heavy snow, per the NWS hazards map.
4 | The Northeast
Colder weather is typically expected in much of the Northeast by December, but this year could be especially brisk. According to the NWS forecast, the entire top corner of the U.S., from Pennsylvania and northern New Jersey all the way up to the Canadian border, falls within the zone of potentially colder temperatures for early December. The NWS hazards map also lists western Pennsylvania, Upstate New York, and northern New England as a “slight risk” for heavy snow over the next two weeks.