Potential Delays For Your Return Home

Well, it’s almost time to say goodbye to 2025 (and its weather), as New Year’s Eve is less than a week away. Here’s what the weather will be up to as the ball drops across the country.

New Year’s Eve (Day)

New Year’s Eve during the day is the perfect time to get in place for your plans for the big moment (whether that be driving to visit family or into the big city), and the weather is pretty clear.

The majority of the country will be dry, with just some isolated showers in the Southwest and a quick moving low moving through the Upper Midwest potentially giving a chance of snow showers across the region. This low could also enhance some lake effect snow for the Great Lakes, which should be fairly localized as long as the winds don’t deviate from their initial direction very much.

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Highs will be above average for the majority of the Central U.S., but there’s a strong temperature gradient between the Central Plains (mid-fifties in North Platte, NE) and the Upper Midwest (below 10 degrees in Fargo, ND).

New Year’s Eve (Night)

I know what you probably care most about is the weather at 12 am on New Year’s Day, the moment 2025 yields to 2026.

Well, for most of the country, it’s cold or rainy… or both.

We had days of warmth for Christmas, but for New Year’s Eve, temperatures are going to be below average for much of the eastern half of the country. Temperatures in the 30s will stretch as far south as Atlanta, while the Northern Tier faces frigid conditions in the single digits and teens.

The Great Lakes snowbelts could have some lake effect snow to contend with, and the West Coast and Southwest are dealing with yet another rainy spell.

The good news? This isn’t an atmospheric river, so flooding isn’t going to be a major concern, though the rain may put a damper on some of your New Year’s festivities.

If you’re going to be in New York City for the big New Year’s Eve ball drop in Time Square, you’re going to need to be bundled up, because it’ll be hovering right around 30 degrees as that time-honored tradition takes place.

(192-hours: Further beef up your forecast with our detailed, hour-by-hour breakdown for the next 8 days – only available on our Premium Pro experience.)

New Year’s Day

Hello, 2026! What will Mother Nature have in store for us?

Well, it’s generally pretty quiet out there!

The West Coast and Southwest are still going to be dealing with some active weather (rain and mountain snow), and there’s lingering lake effect snow for the snowbelts in the Great Lakes, but the rest of the country is going to be pretty quiet.

Below-average temperatures are dipping southward from the Northern Plains into the Great Lakes and Northeast, but it’s actually a bit warmer than average across the Rockies, Gulf Coast and Southeast.

Wherever you’ll be spending your New Year’s Eve, we hope you have a safe and festive end to 2025!

Sara Tonks is a content meteorologist with weather.com and has a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from Georgia Tech in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences along with a master’s degree from Unity Environmental University in Marine Science.