Cold Snap Forecast for Rhode Island: The Next Arctic Blast
In Providence the coldest week is usually Jan 21 to 27, with a normal low of 21°F, and the coldest night of the last 10 winters was −9°F on Feb 4, 2023.
Reading the National Weather Service forecast for Providence.
Normals and records at Providence T. F. Green Airport
The coldest week in Rhode Island, station by station
The week with the lowest normal low at each reference station, from NOAA’s 1991 to 2020 normals, beside the coldest night of the last 10 winters, the median first freeze and the record low.
The coldest week and the coldest nights at Rhode Island reference stations
Station
Coldest week
Normal low
Coldest night, last 10 winters
First freeze
Record low
ProvidenceProvidence T. F. Green Airport, USW00014765
Jan 21 to 27
21°F
−9°FFeb 4, 2023
Nov 1
−13°FJan 23, 1976records since 1948
KingstonKingston, USC00374266
Jan 21 to 27
20°F
−10°FJan 31, 2026
Oct 11
−23°FJan 11, 1942records since 1893
North FosterNorth Foster 1 E, USC00375270
Jan 22 to 28
18°F
−12°FFeb 4, 2023, 9 winters on record
Oct 30
−15°FDec 25, 1980records since 1974
Normals from NOAA NCEI; nightly lows from GHCN-Daily, the winters of 2016 to 2017 through 2025 to 2026.
The panel at the top of this page sets the next 7 nights at Providence against the normal low for each date and adds the Climate Prediction Center outlook for the two weeks after. Enter a ZIP for your own town; it uses the nearest of the 3 Rhode Island reference stations.
At Providence it is usually Jan 21 to 27, with a normal low of 21°F. At the other reference stations: Kingston Jan 21 to 27 (20°F) and North Foster Jan 22 to 28 (18°F). These are NOAA's 1991 to 2020 daily normals.
The normal low at Providence reaches 32°F around Nov 30. The first actual freeze came around Nov 1 in the median of the last 10 winters, weeks ahead of the normal, because one clear calm night can run far below the average.
The coldest night of the last 10 winters at Providence was −9°F on Feb 4, 2023, and the coldest night of a typical winter there was 4°F. Elsewhere: Kingston −10°F on Jan 31, 2026 and North Foster −12°F on Feb 4, 2023 (9 winters on record). The record at the Providence station is −13°F, on Jan 23, 1976, in daily records since 1948.
At Providence a typical recent winter brings 105 nights at 32°F or colder and 30 at 20°F or colder, the median of the last 10 seasons.
Each night's forecast low is compared with the NOAA normal low for that date at the nearest reference station. A night 20 or more degrees below normal is an arctic blast, and so is a night below zero where the normal low is 10°F or warmer. A night 10 to 19 below is a cold snap. A night 5 or more below, or a week that runs 3 or more below on average, is colder than normal, and a week 5 or more above is mild.
The normal lows and coldest weeks are NOAA's 1991 to 2020 daily climate normals for Providence T. F. Green Airport (USW00014765), Kingston (USC00374266) and North Foster 1 E (USC00375270). The recent winters, first dates and records come from the same stations' daily lows in NOAA's GHCN-Daily archive, the winters of 2016 to 2017 through 2025 to 2026. The 7 night forecast is the National Weather Service's and the outlook is the Climate Prediction Center's.
