Deep Freeze relinquishing its hold

While there are still plenty of cold waves to get through this winter, much of the central and eastern United States should begin to climb out of the deepest frigid depths.

As the coldest air in the United States moves off over the next several days, temperatures across the central and eastern areas of the country will rebound slowly into next week, The retreat of bitterly cold air will be accompanied by a break in the stormy pattern.

Air that originated in the northern slopes of Siberia over a week ago moved thousands of miles across the North Pole, over the frozen Arctic tundra, across Canadian Prairies and into the central and eastern United States.

The scope and magnitude of the cold air most likely reached rock bottom at midweek, and there is now the likelihood of a slow retreat out of the frigid depths of winter in the coming weeks.

Temperatures dipped well below zero Fahrenheit from much of the Upper Midwest to the interior Northeast on Wednesday morning. Temperatures as low as the single digits were experienced in the Louisiana Gulf coast and the 10s in the Florida Panhandle in the wake of the record snowstorm.

The core of the Siberian air will slide northeastward and away from North America later this week and this weekend.

Looking farther ahead into February, even more of a pattern change is possible. Rowan County Weather Chief Forecaster Steve Monday expects milder air for the Southern and Eastern states.