4 Regions Expecting Record-Freezing Temperatures This Week

Once December rolls around, the idea of truly frigid weather becomes less of a jarring thought, whether you’ve already had your first snowfall or not. And with La Niña conditions in place this year, long-term forecasts have some areas already bracing themselves for a record-cold month outright. But now, that picture seems to be coming into focus as meteorologists expect some parts of the U.S. to experience record-freezing temperatures throughout the coming week.

RELATED: 4 Regions Most Likely to See Their First Snowfall in December.

The brutally chilly conditions are the result of a freezing air mass moving down across the border from the Canadian Arctic, The Washington Post reports. The sudden shift comes thanks to a weather effect ironically known as sudden stratospheric warming, which occurs when very high altitude winds in the Earth’s atmosphere suddenly increase in temperature and weaken. This change creates a disturbance in the polar vortex near our planet’s pole, bringing warmer-than-average temperatures to far north latitudes while frigid air pushes into the south to fill the gap.

As a result, some areas are expected to break some low-maximum and low-minimum temperatures this week—including many that were set way back in the 1800s. Read on to see which regions can expect these record-cold temperatures over the next few days.

1. West North Central (Western Midwest)

The central U.S., just west of the Mississippi, could be in for a brutally cold start to December. According to forecasts, Kansas City, Missouri, could have a low-minimum forecast of 5 degrees Fahrenheit on Dec. 4. If temperatures dip that low, it would break the record of 6 degrees set in 1898.

Meanwhile, on the same day, Jefferson City could scrape a 1991 record set at 27 degrees with a frigid forecast of 28 degrees, The Post reports.

Iowa is also likely to be frigid on Dec. 4, with Waterloo potentially breaking a 1991 low-maximum record of 11 degrees with a forecast of 9 degrees. Other ties or near breaks of low-maximum temperatures across the state that day include 11 degrees in Cedar Rapids (matching a 1991 low); 14 degrees in Des Moines (barely missing a 13-degree record set in 1886); and Burlington, which could tie a 1991 record at 15 degrees, per The Post.

2. East North Central (Eastern Midwest)

After an already frigid start to the season, states surrounding the Great Lakes are in for what could be a historically cold week.

Forecasts show Wisconsin could break bitterly frigid records on Dec. 4 in places like Wausau where it could his 10 degrees (breaking a low-maximum record of 12 degrees set in 1991); Green Bay, breaking a 1976 record by 4 degrees with a forecast of 11 degrees; and Milwaukee, squeaking out a potential record-breaking 16-degree low-maximum temperature for the day, The Post reports.

Illinois will also see bitterly cold temperatures descend across the state, starting on Dec. 4 with cities like Quincy (2 degrees), Moline (15 degrees), Springfield (17 degrees), and Carbondale (30 degrees).

On Dec. 5, Chicago is forecasted to hit 0 degrees Fahrenheit, besting a low-minimum record set in 2005, while Springdale could break a low-minimum record set in 1895 when it hits 1 degree.

Low-maximum records could also break across Michigan as the mercury tumbles on Dec. 4 and 5. A low maximum of 21 degrees in Kalamazoo could match a 1929 record, while it could beat a low minimum the following day at just 4 degrees.

Detroit will potentially match a low-maximum record set in 1895 on Dec. 4 with a forecast high of 23 degrees, while barely missing a 1926 record the following day at 24 degrees. Flint could nearly match a low-minimum record on Dec. 5 with a 7-degree forecast, while Holland could see temperatures dip to 13 degrees.

Other cities, including Grand Rapids, Houghton Lake, Saginaw, and Battle Creek are all expected to barely match or beat previous records, too, per The Post.

Farther east, South Bend, Indiana, could nearly match a low-minimum record set in 1899 with 8 degrees on Dec. 5. And in Ohio, cities like Youngstown and Wilmington are forecasted to nearly reach or beat their 1991 records with single-digit weather.

RELATED: The #1 Sign Your Region Is About to Get Its First Hard Freeze.

3. Mid-Atlantic

The southern part of the Northeast is going to get especially chilly in the coming days. Pennsylvania will see places like Williamsport hit a low minimum of 9 degrees on Dec. 5, while Pittsburgh sinks to 10 degrees (potentially besting a 1976 record by 2 degrees), according to The Post. Allentown will dip to 11 degrees that day.

Philadelphia will also see an extended block of cold, starting with a potentially record-low 19-degree minimum on Dec. 5 before matching a low maximum of 33 degrees on Dec. 8.

Closer to the coast, New York City is in for a cold blast of its own. Low minimums on Dec. 5 at JFK and LaGuardia Airports will dip to 21 degrees, matching a record set in 1942. Meanwhile, further south, Baltimore is expected to beat a low minimum record set in 2002 with a forecast of 22 degrees.

West Virginia is also expecting a cold blast on Dec. 5, with places like Wheeling hitting a low minimum of 11 degrees (beating a 1944 record), Morgantown dipping to 12 degrees, and Parkersburg dropping to 15 degrees, per The Post.

4. New England

The top right corner of the U.S. is no stranger to bitterly cold winters, but the next week could still come as a bit of a shock. On Dec. 5, Manchester, New Hampshire, could nearly match a low minimum record set in 1886 by dropping to 4 degrees.

Meanwhile, Portland, Maine, could break a 1989 low minimum record if the mercury sinks to 5 degrees as expected. And Bridgeport, Connecticut, could dip as low as 16 degrees and break a low minimum record set in 1989.