Winter storm conditions swept across the nation this week as frigid temperatures, sleet, and snow wreaked havoc on residents from New Jersey to Nevada. The arctic air that blustered across the Midwest and West on Monday, dropping temperatures 30 degrees in an hour in some places, came to the East and South. Snow and sleet warnings were in effect for much of the day for parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Wisconsin, Colorado, Utah, Nebraska, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and the Washington, D.C., area.
Forecasters in northern Illinois got 6 inches of snow and temperatures at the bitterly low depths seen Monday, when stiff, steady winds held wind chills at or near zero. “There were some locations across the central U.S. that went from 50 to the teens,” said National Weather Service meteorologist, Stephen Rodriguez. “It was a sharp, strong cold front that moved through.”
The cold air mass slammed into northern Texas early Tuesday, prompting officials to shutter some overpasses because of treacherous driving conditions. Snow and freezing rain fell across parts of Kentucky early Tuesday and forecasters warned morning commuters of slick roads.
The storm and ensuing cold have been blamed for at least 10 deaths since the weekend. An avalanche in Colorado claimed the life of a Ski Patrol member, and exposure probably killed an 87-year-old man found outside his Montana nursing home. Weather-related car accidents were responsible for a death in Illinois and two deaths each in Minnesota and Missouri. Three traffic deaths were attributed to the weather in Oklahoma.
Thermometers read 31 below Monday in Glasgow, Montana, and the wind chill was 45 below, the Weather Service said. The Texas Panhandle had lows in the single digits, and Goodland, Kansas, registered a record low of -10. Record lows Monday included -19 in Denver, where the previous December 15 record of -6 was set in 1951; and -16 at Sidney, Nebraska.
Monday’s 19-degree low temperature at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport was the coldest for the date in 60 years, the National Weather Service said. Monday was the coldest December 15 ever in Oklahoma City, with the previous coldest high for the date, 19 degrees, having been recorded in 1901.
So, can anyone tell me where all of this global warming is taking place? Anyone? Anywhere? I wonder, how long will it take for some TV reporter to say, “Well, as another proof of global warming, the weather has turned extremely cold, but we expect it to warm up dramatically by spring—once again showing how real global warming really is!”
I can hear it now!
