New year kicks off with Arctic cool across North America

Arctic cold from Siberia is moving south to Eastern Canada and the U.S., according to the U.S. National Weather Service, Climate Prediction Center. 

The drop in temperature is due to a phenomenon called Arctic outbreak, which in the U.S. is often referred to by the more attention-grabbing term Arctic “blast,” said Brian Proctor, a meteorologist at Environment Canada.

The outbreak is caused by cold air masses from Siberia that crossed the North Pole to Alaska, pushed east to northern Canada and will continue to move southward reaching as deep into the southern U.S. as Florida, Proctor said.

Currently, Kitikmeot communities are particularly cold with temperatures below -30 C and wind chills as low as -50 C.

Iqaluit, which has been experiencing abnormally mild weather with temperatures barely below freezing, will also cool down to -17 C on Jan. 8.

The brisk cooling is being felt in Eastern Canada with temperatures dropping from -1 C on Jan. 2 to -11 C as the daytime high on Jan. 5.

“Not tremendously cold from what they can experience, but it’s definitely cooling down,” Proctor said.

However, the negative temperature will be extreme for the east coast of the U.S., often dropping significantly below the seasonal average.

In Philadelphia, Pa., the temperature will drop to below -17 C for the first time in this century. Washington, D.C., will reach the same lows for the first time since 2019.

Temperatures are predicted to start warming up toward the end of next week, Proctor said.

Even though Arctic outbreaks are typical for this time of year and occur “fairly frequently,” he said, the 2019 outbreak in January caused more than 20 deaths in the U.S and disrupted flights with chills below -49 C.