When will the cold snap break?

The Carolinas and the rest of the eastern United States are locked in the lengthiest cold snap in several years, with a seemingly endless series of arctic cold fronts sweeping into the Southeast.

The first front in the current cold snap arrived Monday evening. The second is crossing the Carolinas late Thursday. A third front is expected next Monday evening or early Tuesday.

Temperatures will struggle to climb above freezing on Friday, and reaching the average high temperature for this time of year -- 51 degrees -- seems like a far-fetched dream.

We'll all be paying for this in February and March, when our electricity and natural gas bills arrive.

So we ask the question:  How long will this last?

As is typical in the world of meteorology, there is no firm answer.  The computer models waffle from run to run, but we at least know what needs to happen for the cold to relent.

High pressure over the eastern Pacific Ocean and low pressure over eastern Canada have created a jet stream roller-coaster.  Relatively mild air surges north on the back side of high pressure and pushes into Alaska. On the eastern side of the high, arctic air descends from the Yukon into the eastern half of the United States.

A high pressure ridge off the Southeast coast -- know to weather-lovers as the Southeast ridge -- has been squashed in the current pattern.  If the Southeast ridge reappears, our temperatures climb.

A number of computer models are pointing to early February as the time when that might take place.

Like I said ... there's no agreement on this.  Winter-weather lovers take umbrage at the suggestion that the Southeast ridge will reappear.  They believe in the models that keep high pressure parked off the U.S. west coast.  But a number of meteorologists think the pattern will change, possibly as early as 10 days.  That would be sometime around Super Bowl Sunday.

In the meantime, bundle up. And brace yourself for those power bills.