Extreme Weather Chaos Hits Nation: Blizzards, Heat Waves, and Arctic Cold All at Once

The entire United States is experiencing or about to face severe weather extremes simultaneously. From record-breaking heat in the Southwest to Arctic cold in the Midwest and East, meteorologists say this unusual pattern affects all 50 states.

Virtually the entire United States is experiencing or preparing for severe weather conditions as multiple extreme systems converge across the nation.

Hawaii has begun experiencing days of heavy rainfall. The Southwest is preparing for consecutive days of record-breaking temperatures exceeding 100 degrees (38 Celsius). Two storm systems are expected to deliver feet of snow across northern Great Lakes regions. Meanwhile, the polar vortex is set to bring bone-chilling Arctic temperatures to the Midwest and Eastern states.

This extreme weather forecast follows dramatic temperature swings that have already affected much of the East Coast. Washington, D.C. residents enjoyed record-breaking 86-degree Fahrenheit (about 30 Celsius) weather on Wednesday, walking around in shorts, only to see snowfall the following day.

“All of the country, even if you’re not necessarily seeing extremes, are going to see generally changing from cold to warm, or warm to cold to warm,” said meteorologist Marc Chenard of the weather service’s Weather Prediction Center in Maryland.

Former National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration chief scientist Ryan Maue said he expects extreme weather in all 50 states.

A heat dome will establish itself early next week over the Southwest, creating triple-digit temperatures unprecedented for this time of year, according to both Maue and Chenard.

Weather predictions show Phoenix reaching 98 degrees (almost 37 Celsius) on Tuesday, followed by 103, 105 and two consecutive days of 107 degrees (almost 42 C). Phoenix’s 137-year weather history shows the city has never reached 100 degrees before March 26, typically hitting its first century mark in early May, according to the weather service, which cautioned residents: “Since we are not acclimated to this level of heat this early in the year, it will be more impactful than usual.”

Los Angeles has already begun experiencing this pattern with unusual March temperatures reaching 90 degrees, sending residents in shorts and tank tops searching for any available shade, including narrow strips cast by light poles.

Shane Dixon, 40, typically completes 5-mile runs near his Culver City home without difficulty, but Thursday’s heat forced him to cut his workout short, his face covered in sweat and his T-shirt tucked into his shorts.

“The back of my neck was melting,” he said. But he preferred it to the cold and snow that will hit elsewhere.

“I could go literally soak myself and walk out in the sun and I’ll make it home fine. If it was freezing cold I could not do this,” he said.

Simultaneously with Phoenix’s heat wave, the polar vortex — a system that typically contains frigid air near the North Pole — is predicted to push its chill deep into the Midwest and East, potentially reaching parts of the Southeast, Maue explained.

Minneapolis temperatures will drop to around zero, while Chicago will experience single digits on Tuesday. The following day will bring “temperatures in the teens and 20s in the northeast and 20s in the Mid-Atlantic,” Maue said. Atlanta could see temperatures drop into the 20s.

Two consecutive storm systems — the first arriving Friday, followed by another Sunday through Monday — will move across the nation’s northern regions and Great Lakes, potentially depositing 3 to 4 feet of snow in some areas, Maue explained.

The second, larger storm system will experience such rapid barometric pressure drops — indicating intensification and strengthening winds — that it will qualify as a bomb cyclone, an unusual phenomenon over land. While bomb cyclones typically draw energy from warm ocean waters, this system will derive power from the polar vortex.

Maue said Hawaii is getting an atmospheric river that will have such persistent heavy rain that flooding will be a major issue. Oahu is under a flash flood warning.

Alaska, normally frigid during this season, will experience temperatures approximately 30 degrees below normal, he noted.

“It is the time of year where we can see stuff like this,” Chenard said. “But this does seem even anomalous from what you would typically see. I mean, some of these areas will be setting records. Record-high temperatures for March and maybe multiple times.”

Over the past week, tornadoes have claimed at least eight lives in Oklahoma, Michigan and Indiana. While severe storm forecasts don’t appear as extensive or widespread for the coming week, dangerous thunderstorms could develop “anywhere from the Mississippi Valley toward the East Coast” on Sunday or Monday, Chenard said.

An erratic jet stream underlies these conditions, both Maue and Chenard explained.

The jet stream functions as an air river that transports weather from west to east along a roller-coaster-like trajectory. Typically, these dips resemble gentle kiddie roller coaster movements. Currently, however, the jet stream is creating nearly vertical, dramatic drops followed by steep climbs.

“Which means you get a lot of extremes next to each other,” Maue said. Pacific storm fronts encounter the high-pressure heat dome in the Southwest and get pushed northward to climb that mountainous jet stream peak, “grab access to that cold air reservoir up there” and bring it back down south down the other side of the hill, he said.

Multiple studies have linked unusual jet stream and polar vortex behavior to diminishing Arctic sea ice and human-caused climate change.

However, relief is expected.

“The first day of spring is 20th (of March), and then after that we get recovery,” Maue said.