The first half of January will be marked by a "polar plunge" as a deep atmospheric trough brings Arctic air to most of the central and eastern U.S. Some areas will also receive a significant amount of snow, especially in the "lake-effect" areas of the Great Lakes region.
Here in central Missouri, the snow will not arrive until this coming weekend but the extreme cold is expected to persist through all of next week. If current forecasts are correct, we could receive up to 18 inches of snow.
As our climate warms, average annual temperatures will continue to climb but they will represent a mix of extreme heat and brutally cold periods, superimposed on "typical" seasonal patterns. An energized jet stream will be responsible for the dramatic shifts and for the severity of storms that they produce.
