AccuWeather Long-Range Expert Joe Lundberg forecasts that while much of the South and Plains will enjoy warmth and sunshine between Christmas and New Year's, persistent cold in the Northeast may lead to bouts of snow and ice, especially around Dec. 26 and later in the week.

Between Christmas and New Year's, the Northeast is expected to remain cold with ongoing threats of snow and ice, particularly around December 26 and possibly later in the period. In contrast, the southern plains, southwest, and southeast will experience warm and mostly dry conditions, with some areas seeing temperatures 10 to 15 degrees above historical averages.

The Northwest will see a return of storms, bringing precipitation from San Francisco northward, while southern California dries out. As the year transitions to 2026, the cold persists in the Northeast, with additional disturbances likely to bring showers to the Ohio Valley and Mid-Atlantic, while the southwest and southern plains remain dry and warm.

Next week: Cold persists in Northeast as snow and ice threat looms

Christmas is fast approaching and as we approach the new year, what are we looking at that period between Christmas and the years? Well, one thing, the cold is not going to go away from the northeast entirely. I think there's still going to be a couple of snow and ice threats there. In contrast, it is going to be warm and mostly dry across much of the plains, particularly the southern plains and into the southwest as well as the southeast. Storms will be returning back to the northwest after a brief four way into California as we run up toward Christmas. What's the pattern look like for that period again from the 26 through the 31st? More wetness for the northwest. I think most of it's gonna be from San Francisco on northward, affecting more of northern California, Oregon into western Washington with some snow in the mountains, of course, drying out in southern California, warm and dry across the southern plains. And we're talking about temperatures 60 70. Some places might get 80 degrees. However, this dip in the jet stream off the northeast coast means that cold is still gonna hang around in the northeast and any disturbance that comes on through could cause some wintry weather problems as we go past Christmas. I think there's a system coming in on probably the 26th itself that could cause some snow and ice across parts of the northeast and then maybe another one later in the period in the weekend in the middle part of the country, though. Just look at these temperature anomalies. We're talking an average for a seven day period of 5 to 10 degrees above normal over a huge area from Salt Lake City to Louisville. And in the heart of it, we're talking 10 to 15 degrees above those historical averages. That means fifties and six you're gonna be outside and enjoying it with lots of sunshine stays kind of cold in the northeast as we make the run toward the transition from 2025 to 2026. What's it look like? We think there'll be disturbance that will come through in this northwest flow, probably some showers with it across the Ohio Valley, Mid Atlantic. I don't think it's a big deal, and there may be some snow showers behind it, but it stays dry and warm in the southwest in the southern plains, still wet in the northwest and cold and dry in the northern Plains.

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