After a record-breaking February, the winter chill is back

(CNN) — Over the past few weeks, high temperatures have broken records. Many may have already said goodbye to winter and made way for spring. But don’t get too used to hot conditions. There could be a big change in temperatures coming next week, and it won’t be subtle.

The Weather Forecast Center is predicting below-average temperatures for much of the country starting this weekend and into most of next week and beyond.

A cold front could bring snow as far south as the Appalachians and into the mid-Atlantic next week. Snow may even fall in Washington, where some cherry trees are already in bloom. Areas that have seen little or no snowfall this winter may experience some shortages in the last breath of winter.

Some snow may fall. “I’m cautiously optimistic for snow lovers, because the mid-Atlantic and other areas that don’t have snow could get snow,” said John Gottschalk, director of NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center.

Although the exact temperatures and impacts are still being refined, the Climate Prediction Center says that parts of the Southeast will feel more of the temperature swings. After February, temperatures will be 8 to 13 degrees Celsius below normal.

Here are some cities that have experienced five warm weather winters (December 1, 2022 to February 28, 2023):

• Tupelo, Mississippi: 1st warmest
• New York (Central Park): 2nd hottest place
• Miami: 2nd hottest
• Atlanta (Hartsfield International Airport): 2nd warmest
• Houston: 2nd hottest place
• Washington: 3rd Heat
• New Orleans: 3rd heat
• Nashville: Fourth hottest
• Boston: 5° warmer
• Dallas – Fort Worth: 5th hottest location

Heat has arrived everywhere. Most of the country was unseasonably warm, except for the West, which saw a historic winter of cold and snow.

“Most of the cold has been locked in the Arctic for most of this year, but that seems to be changing, and most people in the US will feel it this weekend,” the meteorologist explained. CNN veteran Brandon Miller. “On the bright side, there isn’t much cold air in March that sweeps across the US from the left and creates deep freezes similar to those in late December.”

March 14 morning temperature expected. (in Fahrenheit)

The Tennessee Valley will experience a large temperature swing, going from 26.6 °C last week to a high of 4.4 °C next week. We can record many mornings with sub-zero temperatures, which is a major concern for agriculture.

“The main impact we’re concerned about is vegetation or potential crop losses, if they occur, because we expect sub-zero temperatures to move south,” Gottschalk said.

Rusty Mangram was one such farmer. He grows hundreds of thousands of plants a year, including fruit trees, at his McMinnville, Tennessee, nursery. Like most trees in the South and Mid-South, its trees are already thinking spring.

“Warmer temperatures are causing many trees to flower,” says Mangram.

Rusty Mangrove looks at his Red Baron beech trees, which have already bloomed from the recent warm temperatures. Credit: Janice Mangrum

Mangram says they have a lot to lose if temperatures drop.

“When it gets below freezing, it eventually kills the flowers and they don’t produce fruit that year. So you lose fruit for an entire year,” Mangram explains.

According to Mangrum, if the cold period is short, his plants can still produce fruit, but if the cold lasts more than a day, it can be a problem not only for farmers but also for consumers.

We’ll continue to monitor the forecast and the cold weather, but in the meantime, we’ll have a few more days of warm temperatures.

“Highs are expected to reach 70 degrees Fahrenheit this afternoon in the northern Ohio Valley and 80 degrees Fahrenheit in the southern and southern Plains,” the weather forecast center said. “These warm temperatures could break many daily high records.”

By mid-week, the southern plains will experience heavy rain. Showers and thunderstorms are possible from northern Texas to Arkansas. Rain is expected to continue for most of the week as a frontal boundary stalls.

“Scattered flash flooding is possible Tuesday night, particularly in parts of central/eastern Oklahoma and northwest Arkansas,” the forecast center said.

By the end of the week, cooler temperatures will settle in the east. The brisk air will help temperatures feel even cooler, and could mark a turning point for an end to the record-breaking heat across much of the East.

— CNN meteorologist Haley Brink contributed to this report.