An arctic blast is smashing daily, even monthly cold records in the West and Plains and will give a glancing blow to the East by Friday.
This latest arctic cold front is delivering temperatures more reminiscent of mid-winter, rather than late October, in the West.
Subzero cold was recorded as far south as the Grand Canyon Wednesday morning. Big Piney, Wyoming, plunged to minus 26 degrees before sunrise Wednesday.
Dozens of daily record lows have been set in the West so far this week. Even more impressively, some locations have set all-time October record lows, including:
-Bozeman, Montana: minus 14 degrees (Oct. 29 and 30)
-Casper, Wyoming: minus 9 degrees (Oct. 29 and 30)
-Grand Junction, Colorado: 7 degrees (Oct. 30)
-Livingston, Montana: minus 12 degrees (Oct. 29)
-Lubbock, Texas: 17 degrees (Oct. 31)
-Midland, Texas: 19 degrees (Oct. 31)
-Pocatello, Idaho: minus 6 degrees (Oct. 30)
-Pueblo, Colorado: minus 6 degrees (Oct. 30)
-Rapid City, South Dakota: minus 2 degrees (Oct. 30)
-Rawlins, Wyoming: minus 20 degrees (Oct. 30)
-Rock Springs, Wyoming: minus 8 degrees (Oct. 30)
-Salt Lake City: 14 degrees (Oct. 30)
-Winslow, Arizona: 12 degrees (Oct. 31)
This was the first time on record Pocatello, Idaho, and Rock Springs, Wyoming, dipped below zero in October. Casper, Wyoming, dipped below zero four straight mornings, from Oct. 27-30.
One of the nation's coldest locations, Peter Sinks, Utah, a high-elevation basin about 20 miles northeast of Logan, dipped to an incredible minus 45.5 degrees early Wednesday. This appeared to be the coldest October temperature on record anywhere in the Lower 48 states, according to Utah-based meteorologist Timothy Wright.
In the high country of California, lows dipped into the single digits in Alturas (5 degrees) and South Lake Tahoe (9 degrees) on Oct. 30.
On Tuesday, Denver and Boulder, Colorado, had high temperatures of 18 and 21 degrees, respectively. These both tied the coldest highs ever recorded in each city in October.
The biting cold air for this time of year is being funneled southward from Canada into the western and central United States by a southward plunge of the jet stream. That dip in the jet stream will slowly migrate eastward late in the week, taking the colder air with it.
Not only will it be cold, but snow is falling in the upper Midwest.
The most below average temperatures will be in the West and Plains, where highs and lows will be over 20 degrees below average, in some spots.
The cold air will slowly creep eastward late this week, giving a glancing blow, relatively speaking, to the East, where highs Friday will be only 5 to 10 degrees colder than average.
Cold Forecast Details
More daily record lows will be in jeopardy Friday morning from inland parts of California and lower Colorado River Valley into Texas.
Lows Friday morning will plunge into the 30s well into the Deep South, including the Houston metro and parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Tennessee Valley.
Winds will also be gusty at times, making it feel even colder.
Numerous additional daily record-cold high temperatures are expected from the upper Midwest to the southern Plains Thursday. Highs will struggle to rise much above freezing in parts of Illinois, may be stuck in the 40s in parts of Arkansas and northeast Texas, and may hold in the 50s in central and Deep South Texas.
It will take until Friday for most of the East Coast to finally turn colder, though it won't be anywhere near as cold there as what we're seeing in the western and central U.S.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
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