Rare May Nor’easter Bringing March-Like Cold to These Cities This Week
https://climate-crisis-247-bucket.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/07221536/Average-forecast-temperature-May-22-to-May-24-2-1-150x150.pngThis week, a powerful East Coast storm system — a weather phenomenon commonly referred to as a nor’easter — is set to drench the Northeast, bringing an extended stretch of cold, wet, and windy weather more typical of early spring than late May.
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Nor’easters form when cold, continental air collides with warm air over the Atlantic. This week, a heat dome affecting Iceland is displacing cold air southward, sending Arctic air, strong winds, and heavy rainfall to large swaths of the Northeast. Dozens of cities are forecast to experience temperatures more than 10°F below normal, while several major cities will see temperatures dip as far as 15°F below climate normals for the period. A closer look at the data reveals the cities where temperatures will be most abnormally cold this week.
To determine the cities where it will be abnormally cold this week, Climate Crisis 247 reviewed 72-hour temperature forecasts and historical station-level daily temperature readings from the NOAA. Cities were ranked based on the difference between the forecast minimum temperature for May 22-24, 2025, and the average observed minimum temperature for May 22-24 from 2006 to 2020. Gridded forecast data are from the National Digital Forecast Database, while historical temperature normals are from the Global Historical Climatology Network daily program of the National Centers for Environmental Information. Weather stations were matched to places using nearest neighbor analysis and were limited to cities within 50 miles of the city centroid. Only cities with at least 100,000 residents were considered.
25. Ann Arbor, MI
- Forecast average, May 22-24: 50.1°F (-11.2°F below climate normal)
- Normal May 22-24 average, 2006-2020: 61.3°F
- Total population: 122,216
24. Peoria, IL
- Forecast average, May 22-24: 55.9°F (-11.3°F below climate normal)
- Normal May 22-24 average, 2006-2020: 67.2°F
- Total population: 113,054
23. Milwaukee, WI
- Forecast average, May 22-24: 49.1°F (-11.3°F below climate normal)
- Normal May 22-24 average, 2006-2020: 60.4°F
- Total population: 573,299
22. Aurora, IL
- Forecast average, May 22-24: 52.2°F (-11.3°F below climate normal)
- Normal May 22-24 average, 2006-2020: 63.6°F
- Total population: 181,405
21. Elgin, IL
- Forecast average, May 22-24: 51.4°F (-11.4°F below climate normal)
- Normal May 22-24 average, 2006-2020: 62.8°F
- Total population: 114,190
20. Kansas City, MO
- Forecast average, May 22-24: 58.8°F (-11.6°F below climate normal)
- Normal May 22-24 average, 2006-2020: 70.4°F
- Total population: 505,958
19. Elizabeth, NJ
- Forecast average, May 22-24: 54.5°F (-11.6°F below climate normal)
- Normal May 22-24 average, 2006-2020: 66.1°F
- Total population: 135,665
18. Pittsburgh, PA
- Forecast average, May 22-24: 53.3°F (-11.6°F below climate normal)
- Normal May 22-24 average, 2006-2020: 65.0°F
- Total population: 303,843
17. Des Moines, IA
- Forecast average, May 22-24: 54.4°F (-11.7°F below climate normal)
- Normal May 22-24 average, 2006-2020: 66.1°F
- Total population: 213,164
16. Rockford, IL
- Forecast average, May 22-24: 52.1°F (-11.9°F below climate normal)
- Normal May 22-24 average, 2006-2020: 64.0°F
- Total population: 148,173
15. Columbus, OH
- Forecast average, May 22-24: 53.7°F (-12.1°F below climate normal)
- Normal May 22-24 average, 2006-2020: 65.8°F
- Total population: 902,449
14. Columbia, MO
- Forecast average, May 22-24: 57.0°F (-12.1°F below climate normal)
- Normal May 22-24 average, 2006-2020: 69.1°F
- Total population: 126,172
13. Sioux Falls, SD
- Forecast average, May 22-24: 50.9°F (-12.2°F below climate normal)
- Normal May 22-24 average, 2006-2020: 63.1°F
- Total population: 193,401
12. Philadelphia, PA
- Forecast average, May 22-24: 55.0°F (-12.3°F below climate normal)
- Normal May 22-24 average, 2006-2020: 67.3°F
- Total population: 1,593,208
11. Indianapolis, IN
- Forecast average, May 22-24: 54.9°F (-12.4°F below climate normal)
- Normal May 22-24 average, 2006-2020: 67.3°F
- Total population: 882,006
10. Louisville/Jefferson County metro government, KY
- Forecast average, May 22-24: 57.6°F (-12.7°F below climate normal)
- Normal May 22-24 average, 2006-2020: 70.3°F
- Total population: 629,176
9. Lexington-Fayette, KY
- Forecast average, May 22-24: 55.5°F (-12.8°F below climate normal)
- Normal May 22-24 average, 2006-2020: 68.3°F
- Total population: 321,276
8. Omaha, NE
- Forecast average, May 22-24: 54.5°F (-12.9°F below climate normal)
- Normal May 22-24 average, 2006-2020: 67.4°F
- Total population: 489,201
7. South Bend, IN
- Forecast average, May 22-24: 49.9°F (-12.9°F below climate normal)
- Normal May 22-24 average, 2006-2020: 62.8°F
- Total population: 103,084
6. Allentown, PA
- Forecast average, May 22-24: 52.1°F (-13.0°F below climate normal)
- Normal May 22-24 average, 2006-2020: 65.1°F
- Total population: 125,292
5. Lansing, MI
- Forecast average, May 22-24: 49.0°F (-13.0°F below climate normal)
- Normal May 22-24 average, 2006-2020: 62.1°F
- Total population: 112,986
4. Toledo, OH
- Forecast average, May 22-24: 52.1°F (-13.4°F below climate normal)
- Normal May 22-24 average, 2006-2020: 65.5°F
- Total population: 269,962
3. Dayton, OH
- Forecast average, May 22-24: 53.9°F (-13.5°F below climate normal)
- Normal May 22-24 average, 2006-2020: 67.4°F
- Total population: 137,305
2. Fort Wayne, IN
- Forecast average, May 22-24: 51.0°F (-14.2°F below climate normal)
- Normal May 22-24 average, 2006-2020: 65.2°F
- Total population: 264,514
1. Manchester, NH
- Forecast average, May 22-24: 47.9°F (-14.3°F below climate normal)
- Normal May 22-24 average, 2006-2020: 62.2°F
- Total population: 115,037
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