A woman uses an umbrella, walking to her car in Forest Park in St. Louis during a snowstorm last year. Missouri, like much of the United States, is getting an early taste of winter as snow and freezing temperatures into the 30s are expected through Tuesday. File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI | License Photo
An Arctic blast is bringing freezing temperatures and lake-effect snow to much of the United States, including the Great Lakes where up to a foot of snow fell Monday.
The Artic air is plunging temperatures into record November lows throughout two-thirds of the country, including the Northeast, down into the Carolinas and even as far south as Florida, where temperatures were near 80 degrees on Sunday and are forecast to hit 30 degrees in Jacksonville by Tuesday morning.
Winter weather bulletins have been issued for several states, where lows are expected to drop 10 to 25 degrees below normal, impacting more than 84 million residents in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, the Carolinas and New York.
In Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, 28 million people are dealing with freezing temperatures and snow, which is expected to fall from the Great Lakes to New England and down to eastern North Carolina by Tuesday.
Parts of Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan and West Virginia could see up to 18 inches of lake-effect snow, which is created when cold air moves over the warmer Great Lakes to form snow bands.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul urged New Yorkers to take caution and prepare for the cold.
“As winter weather moves in this week, I am urging New Yorkers in impacted areas to use caution and take measures to prepare for cold and snowy conditions,” Hochul said in a statement. “State agencies are at the ready to assist New Yorkers and to ensure our communities remain safe during the first winter storm of the year.”
The cold snap, which is expected to bring snow and winter-like weather into the 20s in Washington, D.C., and New York City, will not last long as temperatures are forecast to warm up on Wednesday.
