Spring weather forecast says warm air is 'locked up.' For how long?
Spring weather forecast says warm air is 'locked up.' For how long?
Doyle Rice, USA TODAYSat, March 14, 2026 at 10:03 AM UTC
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As the West bakes, folks in the eastern United States will have to wait a while for a sustained warm-up, forecasters said.
"The large-scale weather pattern across the country will keep most of the heat locked up across the western half of the country through late in the month," said AccuWeather meteorologist Renee Duff in an email to USA TODAY.
Overall, she said the pattern through the first week of April is likely to be cool and wet in the East, while remaining warm and dry in the interior Southwest.
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Jose Castillo of Tarrytown, NY. walks through snow along Route 9 in Tarrytown during the early hours of the winter storm Jan. 25, 2026. The storm was predicted to drop up to a foot of snow on the lower Hudson Valley. A huge winter storm dumped heavy amounts of snow and ice across wide swaths of the U.S.
Cold front on the way
As a potent storm roars across the Great Lakes, a strong cold front will move across the eastern half of the United States in mid-March. While temperatures will briefly surge ahead of this front, cold and blustery conditions will follow with temperatures 10-20 degrees below historical averages, Duff said.
Wind chill temperatures will be even lower, especially across the Great Lakes and Northeast, due to strong winds from the northwest.
There will be a risk of power outages as the strong winds sweep from the Rockies and Southwest over the weekend to the East Coast by Monday, March 16.
AccuWeather's long-range team expects the periods between March 17-20 and March 22-23 to be cold for late March in the East, with an increase in energy demands.
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While the western U.S. bakes under high heat next week, the East will have to wait a while for any sustained warmth.Slow transition to spring
After the unusual warmth that overspread the eastern United States, it looks to be a while before it gets that warm again.
"A slower transition to persistent spring warmth can occur from the northern Rockies to the Northeast," AccuWeather long-range expert Paul Pastelok told USA TODAY.
He added that there will be occasional warm-ups, but they will not last long before the next wave of chilly air arrives.
How hot in the West?
There could be more than a hundred record highs that are challenged across the Southwest, Rockies and High Plains next week with temperatures more typical of May, AccuWeather said.
NOAA's Weather Prediction Center said some locations could reach all-time high temperatures for the month of March, especially Phoenix, Las Vegas, Sacramento, and San Jose. Parts of the Desert Southwest may experience their earliest 100-degree temperature on record.
The early time of year and prolonged nature of this heat wave will increase the risk of heat stress when temperatures peak, the Weather Prediction Center said.
Doyle Rice is a national correspondent for USA TODAY, with a focus on weather and climate.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Spring forecast predicts when warm weather will return to eastern US
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