Cold weather is accompanying the start of the new year in North Dakota, likely freezing over the Missouri River in the Bismarck-Mandan area before extending southward potentially all the way to Texas and Florida.

A major storm also is forecast to impact a large swath of the U.S. starting this weekend, though the major impacts are expected south of North Dakota. Some snow is still forecast for the Bismarck region.

Blasts of arctic air -- from 20-40 degrees below historical averages -- are expected from late this week through mid-January from the Plains through the East Coast as the jet stream dives southward and allows the northern air to flow in on the backside, according to AccuWeather and the National Weather Service .

“This could end up being the coldest January since 2011 for the U.S. as a whole,” AccuWeather Lead Long-Range Expert Paul Pastelok reported.

The change will drive out the mild Pacific air that has led to recent warm weather. Dickinson on Christmas Day set a record-high temperature for the date of 49 degrees, breaking the city's previous Dec. 25 mark of 46 set in 1991, according to the National Weather Service.

Bismarck on Sunday had a daytime high temperature of 46 degrees -- almost double the city's average temp for Dec. 29. In contrast, Friday's forecast high for the capital city is in the single digits, with an overnight low of minus 10 -- both around 15 degrees below normal.

Northern North Dakota could see subzero high temps, with overnight lows plunging to minus 25.

"Colder temperatures moving into the region later this week are likely to continue through most of next week, with a moderate risk (40-60% chance) of much-below-normal temperatures Jan. 7-12," the Weather Service posted. "Looking at historical data for western and central North Dakota, this would favor high temperatures in the single digits above and below zero, and low temperatures of 15 to 25 degrees below zero."

Dangerously cold wind chills also are probable starting Thursday, forecasters said.

Snow on the way

A round of snow also is possible this weekend. Saturday and Sunday there is a medium-to-high chance of at least 2 inches of snow across the west and south central regions, according to the Weather Service.

Chances for weekend snow in the Bismarck-Mandan area range from 50-70%, depending on the time of day or night.

The system is shaping up to be the first widespread cross-country winter storm of the season for the central and eastern U.S., and will hamper travel during the final days of the holiday season, AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski reported .

The heaviest snowfall is expected in states to the south of North Dakota, with the potential for an ice storm stretching from Kansas east to Virginia.

Freezing river

The cold will once again cause ice to form on the Missouri River in the Bismarck-Mandan area, according to the Weather Service. The river came close to icing over right before Christmas, but the return to warmer weather reversed that trend.

"This time around, there is much less room in the river to store ice below the University of Mary, so the icing-in will likely occur very quickly once it starts," the agency said in a hydrologic outlook for the area.

Once icing-in occurs, the river typically rises about 6 feet. Such a rise this week would still be well below minor flood stage, which is where high waters become problematic. However, there are other dangers.

"As a reminder, people should avoid walking on the Missouri River as ice accumulates. The first ice on the Missouri River tends to be a collection of small, unstable ice pans that can give way with no notice," the Weather Service said.

Cold country

Severe cold snaps are not unusual for North Dakota in January. That is not the case in the eastern and southern U.S. -- regions where the cold is forecast to extend.

"In the Southeast (Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama and Florida), this January could end up being the coldest since January 2018, which was 4.3 (degrees) below the historical average," said Dan DePodwin, AccuWeather's senior director of forecasting operations. "In an extreme scenario where the cold lingers past the middle of January, January 2025 could be the coldest since January 2014 in this region, which was 6 (degrees) colder than the historical average."

The cold weather will at times affect more than 250 million people living in more than 40 states in the Central and Eastern regions, according to AccuWeather.

The frigid weather could cause problems in those regions ranging from frozen home pipes to ruined crops to electrical grid issues with the potential for rolling blackouts as energy demands spike.

Pastelok referred to the coming cold as "a trainload of arctic high pressure areas" moving southward.

"The key here is that the arctic outbreak will involve many days and not just be a quick one-to-three-day event," he said.