U.S. Midwest and Mid-Atlantic May Start 2013 Colder

The New Year may open with below- normal temperatures for the U.S. Midwest and mid-Atlantic region, said Matt Rogers, president of the Commodity Weather Group LLC.

Weather patterns over Alaska and the Pacific Ocean may help push colder air into the U.S., sending temperatures about 3 degrees Fahrenheit (1.7 Celsius) lower than usual across much of the country from Dec. 28 to Jan. 1, Rogers said today in a note to clients.

“One lingering complication is an upper-level trough over the West that would offer ripples in the pattern with more variability,” said Rogers, who’s based in Bethesda, Maryland.

Below-normal temperatures in the large cities of the Midwest and Northeast may increase energy demand to warm homes and businesses, pushing up natural gas and heating oil prices.

MDA Weather Services predicted more seasonal temperatures along the East Coast and across the Midwest in the same period. The Gaithersburg, Maryland-based company expects the coldest air in western Canada and along the West Coast, with temperatures falling 3 to 7 degrees below normal.

In New York, the normal average temperature for Dec. 25 is about 36 degrees, according to MDA. It is 32 in Boston; 25 in Chicago; 32 in St. Louis; 53 in Houston; 19 in Calgary, Alberta; 35 in Seattle; and 49 in Burbank, California.

To contact the reporter on this story: Brian K. Sullivan in Boston at bsullivan10@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at dstets@bloomberg.net