Since the start of January the temperature has plummeted affecting over 150 million people along with dangerous weather phenomena such as heavy rains and critical wildfires. Critical fire weather conditions are prevalent across Colorado as conditions are exceedingly dry and windy, putting Red Flag Warnings into effect. The cold front is also bringing snow to places that rarely receive it, for instance the intense flurries across our Sunshine State.
With the cold front sweeping the southern and northeastern U.S, average temperatures dropping down to below freezing temperatures due to the “bitterly cold Arctic air mass,” said the National Weather Service. The most severe chills will seize the northern Plains and the Rocky Mountains, where wind chills will drop as low as -55 degrees. This will be the coldest Inauguration Day in 40 years. When President Ronald Reagan was getting sworn in for his second term in 1985, it reached only 7 degrees which caused the ceremony to be moved indoors and the presidential parade to be canceled.
An example of the cold front affecting southern states is in Houston, Texas where the temperature dropped below freezing and caused a storm from the low pressure on Sunday, which is expected to cause rain, chilling rain, and then snowfall on Monday and falling into Tuesday. “Snow totals would place this as one of the most substantial snowfall events in the history of the Greater Houston Area,” said the National Weather Service.
Rare snow was found in Mobile, Alabama, and also east in Pensacola, Florida, weather forecast predicts 1 to 4 inches of snow possible starting Tuesday. The snow was expected to come to an end early Monday as the cold moves to the Northeast, affecting states along the way. Snow totals of 2 to 6 inches are possible but remain unlikely. Lingering snow showers will continue in the most northern states like Maine and New York early Monday, with most snow ending by sunrise.
