Opposite Weather Forecasts for the East and West in the Week Ahead

The upcoming week is going to be a tale of two entirely different weather situations for the U.S. While an intrusion of cold air will dip into the Northeast, the western U.S. will see the temperatures surge upward. Here is what you need to know about this forecast.

Breakdown of Polar Vortex Will Mean Chilly Weather for the East

The silver lining for the week ahead is that the pattern of severe storms will begin to pull back across the central U.S. However, the flip side will be that a breakup of the polar vortex in the Arctic will be responsible for winterlike weather diving back into the northeastern corner of the country. Meanwhile, it will feel more like summer for some parts of the West.

What is responsible for this topsy-turvey weather forecast? Meteorologists blame a shift in the jet stream for the dramatic change in the conditions. The southward dip in the jet stream will work to put a lid on the rain and the storms that have wreaked havoc across much of the country over the last few weeks. The dry conditions will not come before flooding has already unleashed across the Mississippi and Ohio rivers.

Forecasters predicted weeks ago that movement in the polar vortex to the north would result in some of this bitterly cold air escaping and tracking to the south. This movement is setting up the southward plunge in the jet stream, carrying this colder air into the northern region of the U.S.

The majority of the Northeast will see unseasonably cold temperatures as a result of this intrusion of Arctic air. Places such as New York City are expecting multiple days with temperatures that struggle to climb out of the 40s for highs. This compares to the historical average of highs in the upper 50s during the first week of April.

The readings in the 40s will slip as far south as Washington, D.C. It will be a chilly start to the week in the nation's capital before the mercury climbs back into the 50s for highs on Wednesday and Thursday.

The breezy conditions accompanying the influx of cold air will bring the real feel readings down even more. You can expect the real feel temperatures to land about 10 to 20 degrees cooler than the actual temperature. This chill will be amplified at night or during times of clouds.