Bitter cold to remain absent from midwestern, northeastern U.S. into end of January

The last days of January will continue the mild theme of winter thus far across the midwestern and northeastern United States.

Millions of Americans will continue to save on heating costs during the pattern, but ski resorts may struggle to keep snow on the slopes with a lack of sustained cold.

Fresh chill will be ushered into the Midwest and Northeast behind a storm system this weekend.

The air behind the storm is of Pacific origin and not from the Arctic, according to AccuWeather senior meteorologist Alex Sosnowski.

As a result, temperatures will stay within a few degrees of average across the Upper Midwest, Ohio Valley and Northeast for much of the coming week.

Average high temperatures are slowly emerging from their lowest point of the year as the length of daylight and sun angle increases.

Highs typically range from the middle 20s F in Minneapolis to the middle 30s in Pittsburgh and middle 40s in Washington, D.C., during the last part of January.

The air will still be chilly enough to generate flurries and snow showers downwind of the Great Lakes into Monday. Motorists in the traditional lake-effect areas should be wary of slippery travel at times.

As a whole, the weather next week will be rather benign by late-January standards. No more than a couple disturbances with light snow will swing through the Midwest, and behind each disturbance will be no significant cold air.

"Next week, the greatest temperature departures from average on the warm side will be across southern Canada and the northern U.S.," AccuWeather senior meteorologist Brett Anderson said.

High temperatures in the lower 30s will be common around Minneapolis, with middle to upper 30s likely most days in Chicago and Detroit. So far this month, temperatures are running 4, 6 and 6.5 degrees Fahrenheit above normal in these cities, respectively.

Farther east, this month's average temperatures are above normal by 6.6 degrees in Washington, D.C., 7.6 degrees in Pittsburgh and 8.6 degrees in Boston.

The mild weather has led to many of the winter storms thus far to be rainmakers rather than snowmakers in the Northeast, similar to what is ongoing this weekend.

AccuWeather meteorologists are closely monitoring whether this pattern of more rain than snow will continue for the next winter storm set to target the East during the first days of February.