Meteorologist says 'get ready' because an extremely rare winter pattern is developing that could shatter records

 Max Velocity says this winter pattern is about to take a sharp turn, and it’s not the kind of shift that waits politely until after the holidays. 

In his newest forecast, he describes a holiday week that started as a West Coast problem – but is now trying to evolve into a nationwide headache.

He warns this is no longer just a story about a weirdly warm Christmas. In Max Velocity’s view, it’s turning into a “more chaotic” setup, with high-impact storms stacking on top of one another while records fall in the background.

A Warm Christmas Turns Into A Bigger, Stranger Pattern

Max Velocity says a major heat dome is building and spreading over a huge portion of the United States. He notes there’s “hardly any snow on the ground” across much of the country right now, outside the Rockies and a few colder pockets like the Upper Midwest, Northern Plains, and parts of the Northeast.

In his earlier forecast, he framed it as the warmest Christmas on record for nearly 100 million Americans. In the new update, he goes even harder, saying nearly half the country is staring at a record-shattering Christmas, with warmth that could hang around close to New Year’s.

He describes the warmth as unusually widespread, with temperatures capable of running up to 40 degrees above average in some areas. That’s the kind of number that doesn’t feel like “mild” – it feels like the season is broken.

Max Velocity also highlights the overnight side of the warmth, which people forget to check. He says Christmas morning lows are set up to be so warm that dozens and dozens of “warmest Christmas morning” records could break, not just one or two.

And yes, it sounds pleasant if you’re tired of scraping ice off your windshield. But warm nights can also mean fog, meltwater, and sloppy roads—especially if you’re driving through regions that had snow on the ground a few days earlier.

The West Coast Storm Is Now A Flood And Debris-Flow Threat

The biggest “new” change in Max Velocity’s updated forecast is how he describes the West Coast storm morphing into something more dangerous. He says what began as a localized West Coast system is now evolving into a widespread high-impact event.

He flags a high risk for potentially catastrophic flash flooding, especially around the Palisades burn scar near Los Angeles. His warning is blunt: multiple inches of rain could fall in a short period, and that ramps up the risk of fast runoff and debris flows.

That burn-scar detail matters, because it changes the hazard from “wet streets” to “moving earth.” In those zones, the ground can’t absorb water like normal, so rain turns into a conveyor belt—mud, rocks, and debris included.

Max Velocity also talks about California totals that are eye-popping, with guidance showing extreme rainfall potential in favored terrain. 

He describes this as a short-duration punch, the kind of thing that catches people off guard because it’s not a slow all-day drizzle.

Up the coast, he says the Pacific Northwest can get hammered too, with heavy rain and mountain snow, plus powerful winds. He mentions gusts potentially in the 50 to 60 mph range, which is the kind of wind that turns “holiday lights” into “holiday power outage” real fast.

The Storm Breaks Off, And The Midwest To Northeast Gets Dragged In

Max Velocity says part of the powerful West Coast system could break off, intensify, and then turn into a major winter storm for the Midwest, Great Lakes, and Northeast. That’s the pivot that makes the whole forecast feel like it’s speeding up.

In his Dec. 22 forecast, he said the storm track around Christmas was very uncertain, with the GFS and European model showing very different outcomes. In his Dec. 23 update, he keeps the uncertainty – but he also sounds more concerned that the impacts are becoming broader.

He describes widespread accumulating snow as “likely” somewhere in that Midwest-to-Northeast corridor. And he adds a sharp travel warning: if strong winds surge in behind the cold front, blizzard conditions could develop for millions right in the middle of the holiday travel rush.

That’s the nightmare combo: people already committed to being on the road, plus snow rates that can overwhelm plows, plus winds that erase visibility and drift snow back onto cleared lanes. Even “not that much snow” becomes a big deal when the wind is doing half the work.

Max Velocity also talks about an Alberta Clipper-type setup and bands of moisture getting squeezed between pressure systems. That kind of fast-moving system can be hard to pin down until the last minute, which is why his tone keeps coming back to “stay tuned.”

Snow And Ice Details: Where It Looks Real, And Where It’s Still Wobbly

Max Velocity says the immediate snow in New England isn’t a blockbuster, but it’s enough to matter. He talks about several inches in spots, with southern Maine standing out as a place where totals could run higher than surrounding areas.

Then he shifts to the bigger concern: ice. In his earlier forecast, he showed model spreads where one run painted big snow totals into places like Wisconsin and even major Northeast cities, while another shifted the whole show north. 

In the newer update, he narrows the focus – less hype about monster snow totals, more emphasis on where glazing could turn roads into a skating rink.

He speifically mentions freezing rain potential in parts of Wisconsin and into Michigan, including areas around places like Kalamazoo. He says the ice could land in the “tenth to a fourth of an inch” range in some corridors, and while he doesn’t call it a guaranteed major ice storm, he does say ice is becoming a bigger concern.

That range is sneaky dangerous. A tenth of an inch doesn’t sound like much until your car starts drifting through a green light, or a power line starts sagging under weight it was never built to carry.

For the Northeast, Max Velocity describes a Friday into Saturday window where snow and mixed precipitation could create major problems. 

He points to heavy snow potential around parts of New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania, Long Island, and southern New York, while also keeping expectations realistic – more like widespread 3 to 6 inches with isolated higher amounts, rather than a guaranteed wall-to-wall foot of snow.

He also mentions icing concerns for Pennsylvania and Maryland, including Washington, D.C., with slick untreated roads and the possibility of isolated outages. The way he frames it, the precise bullseye is still shifting, but the “travel hassle” part is getting harder to ignore.

After Christmas: Heat Lingers, Then A Possible Arctic Flip Near New Year’s

Max Velocity says the warmth doesn’t just vanish the day after Christmas. He expects the heat to continue for a few days in many areas, especially across parts of the Plains, Midwest, and Ohio Valley.

But then he introduces the other shoe dropping. As the calendar nears the end of the month, he says an arctic blast could try to spill into the Northern Plains and Midwest, and eventually push along the East Coast.

He even raises the possibility of below-freezing temperatures reaching as far south as parts of Florida, naming places like Jacksonville and Tallahassee as examples of how far south the cold could reach if the pattern flips the right way.

That is classic “weather whiplash.” People go from “open the windows” to “why is my pipe making that noise?” in the span of a week, and it’s exactly the kind of setup that punishes anyone who only checks the forecast once.

Max Velocity also cautions that the further out you go, the more uncertain the details become. But his broader message stays consistent across both forecasts: the pattern is reorganizing fast, records are in danger, and the storm threats are not confined to one region anymore.