Parts of the United States will get a respite Thursday from dangerously cold weather that has plunged temperatures below zero, drained car batteries in Chicago and sent Southerners scrambling to prepare their homes for the frost. But on Friday the cold returns.
High temperatures will mostly moderate to near average on Thursday across most of the U.S., except for areas of the northern Plains. Thursday's persistent cold temperatures also prompted Amtrak to cancel more than a dozen Acela trains serving the Northeast.
Places farther south, like Texas, will see the pendulum swing to above-average temperatures in the 60s and 70s.
However, once the warmth returns to the surface, it will be pushed out by another cold, but not as cold, air mass 24 hours later. Highs in Texas on Friday will be in the 30s and 40s, except for the southern part of the state.
The highest potential for dangerous cold and extreme wind chills over the weekend will be across the north-central Plains into parts of the upper Midwest, where low temperatures could set daily records this weekend, according to meteorologists at the Weather Prediction Center.
Here's what to expect.
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Cold air still trapped across the northern Plains will move south into Texas on Friday.
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Although not as cold as the wave the country experienced earlier this week, maximum daytime temperatures in the central United States could be 20 to 30 degrees below normal.
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On Saturday, the cold mass will spread across the eastern United States, reaching major cities along the coast.
During this time, temperatures in the West will rise to above average, eventually including Montana, which has seen some of the harshest conditions recently.
The weather pattern will begin to shift late this weekend, and temperatures will begin to moderate. By mid-week, warmer winter will return, with above-average temperatures across the country.
