A chilly weather pattern for May will set more cold temperature records in parts of the Midwest and Northeast early this week.
Numerous record lows were already set Mother's Day weekend, and an area of low pressure wrung out strange May snow in the interior Northeast.
New daily record lows for May 11 were set Monday morning in Bismarck, North Dakota (24 degrees-tie), International Falls, Minnesota (21 degrees), and Columbia, Missouri (36 degrees).
More notables on the record cold and snow can be found at the bottom of this article.
Current U.S. TemperaturesThe record-breaking cold weather is from a southward plunge of the jet stream in place to the east of the Rockies. That has allowed a pipeline of cold air to dive southward from Canada into parts of the central and eastern United States.
A reinforcing blast of cold air is spreading from the Plains and Midwest into the East and South early this week, with more record lows expected through Wednesday.
Forecast Morning LowsTuesday morning could have the most numerous daily record lows from the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley into parts of the East. You can see some of the potential records for Tuesday morning in the graphic below.
This late-season cold air might harm any sensitive spring vegetation where a frost or freeze occurs.
Potential Daily Record Lows Tuesday MorningDaily record lows are also possible Wednesday morning in the Northeast. This includes Boston which might flirt with its daily record of 38 degrees set in 1882. Syracuse, New York, and Providence, Rhode Island, will also be within striking distance of record lows for May 13.
High temperatures will also remain colder than average early this week. The blue contour in the map below shows where highs on Tuesday will generally be 5 to 20 degrees below average for this time of year.
Forecast HighsRelief from the cold weather is expected later this week as a pattern change takes hold.
Atlanta will rise back into the 80s late this week. Highs in the 70s are expected to return to New York City on Friday.
You can read more about the warming temperatures at this link.
Warmer Temperatures AheadNotables and Records So Far
Cold Notables
New daily record lows for May 10 were set Sunday morning in Trenton, New Jersey (31 degrees); Richmond, Virginia (32 degrees); Shreveport, Louisiana (47 degrees); and Wilmington, North Carolina (41 degrees). Boston and Providence, Rhode Island, both tied their daily record lows of 34 degrees Sunday morning.
All-time May record lows were set Saturday morning in Binghamton, New York (24 degrees); Fort Wayne, Indiana (23 degrees); Indianapolis (27 degrees); New York's LaGuardia Airport (36 degrees) and Jackson, Kentucky (30 degrees). State College, Pennsylvania (27 degrees), New York's JFK Airport (34 degrees) and London, Kentucky (28 degrees), tied their all-time May records Saturday morning.
According to the National Weather Service, prior to Saturday, the latest spring date Fort Wayne, Indiana, plunged to 23 degrees was April 20, 1897, and 1904, almost three weeks earlier in the spring.
Nashville, Tennessee, also plunged to its coldest low so late in spring Saturday morning, beating its previous record-latest 35-degree low by three days.
Washington's Reagan National Airport (37 degrees) dipped to its coldest May low since 1966. Peoria, Illinois, had its latest spring freeze since 1971.
Van Wert, Ohio, plunged to 18 degrees Saturday morning, the first time it had dropped into the teens in May in 127 years of records.
Wind chills were as cold as the teens, even upper single digits, in parts of the East Saturday morning.
Boston's temperature only rose to 44 degrees Saturday afternoon, setting a new record-cold high temperature for May 9.
Snow Notables
Pittsburgh reported a trace of snow both Friday and Saturday, the first consecutive May days of snow there in 97 years.
And, as noted by National Weather Service-Charleston, West Virginia, meteorologist Nick Webb, Snowshoe, West Virginia, set its record 24-hour May snowfall in 45 years of records. Elkins, West Virginia, also set a new 24-hour May snow record, picking up 1.5 inches of snow Friday.
This forecast prompted the National Weather Service office in Caribou, Maine, to issue its first May winter storm warning in at least 15 years.
Rare May lake-effect snowbands and snow squalls spread across the Great Lakes and interior Northeast on Saturday. Overpasses were snow-covered in parts of western Pennsylvania, according to live cams.
Graupel mixed in across parts of the Interstate 95 corridor.
Parts of upstate New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine picked up 3 to 6 inches of snow, with up to 14 inches in eastern Maine.
One location near the Vermont-New York border northeast of Albany at an elevation of 1,300 feet reported 1 foot of new snow Saturday morning.
Light snow accumulations were reported in parts of western and central Massachusetts and the Litchfield Hills of northern Connecticut.
Ohhhhhh. They were serious about snow on May 9, 2020
@NWSBoston these are from #Barre at 1070 Feet.
Just after 1 a.m. EDT Saturday, New York City's precipitation ended as less than an hour's worth of wet snow, tying the city's record-latest spring snow. A trace of snow and a new record-low temperature for the date will go into the record books.
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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