Winter to give up grip on Lower 48 after brutal week

A late-season cold outbreak vying for king of winter is winding down Friday. It delivered widespread record lows to the central United States amid temperatures falling into the minus-40s north and below freezing to the Gulf Coast. Next up is an atmospheric river for the Pacific Northwest and warmer air across the country next week.

Weather Watch

Bye bye cold air. It’s the last big day of this Arctic outbreak. Dozens of record lows are expected to fall this morning across the central United States to the Gulf Coast. Next week, it’s more like a spring preview as much of the country sees warmer to much warmer than normal air return.

Atmospheric river targets Pacific Northwest. Areas near the southwest portion of the Puget Sound are under flood watch from late Saturday through Wednesday as a series of storms eyes the region. It starts off with a potent atmospheric river this weekend and is followed up with a powerful offshore low early next week. Seattle is looking at about 3 inches of rain, with mountainous spots picking up as much as 10 inches and snow falling mainly at the highest peaks.

Denver snow. An isolated snowstorm has been blanketing the Denver region since late Thursday. In addition to totals (so far) of 2 to 5 inches around the city, the foothills of the Rockies southwest of the city really cashed in. Tallies between a foot and 17 inches have come in around and southwest of Evergreen. Additional accumulation of a few inches is possible before snow ends Friday.

Lightning links

Videos show destructive avalanches, close calls in Colorado in recent days.

Snow impacts from the Peninsula to Virginia Beach.

New York town has gotten 300 inches—25 feet—of snow so far this year.

Frigid Friday

It’s somewhat rare these days to come across a legitimate cold outbreak, so the one making its final stand deserves more attention.

On Thursday, dozens of record lows occurred, including:

• Minus-32 in Broken Bow, Neb. (50 degrees below normal).

• Minus-10 in Kansas City (35 degrees below normal).

• 4 in Oklahoma City (28 degrees below normal).

• 26 in Del Rio, Texas (24 degrees below normal).

Three days in a row — Monday through Wednesday — with minus-40s for lows in the Lower 48 this late in the year is quite rare, particularly in the current climate. While the North Dakota mesonet recorded slightly colder temperatures, as noted in the past two days here, the coldest readings listed by the Weather Prediction Center are as follows:

• Feb. 17: Minus-42 in Bottineau, N.D.

• Feb. 18: Minus-45 in Antelope, N.D.

• Feb. 19: Minus-45 in Hettinger, N.D.

The overall confirmed low for the Lower 48 this winter, also according to WPC, is minus-51 in Peter Sinks, Utah (a very cold hole in the ground).

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Weekday morning newsletter by a journalist/forecaster that connects weather and climate change dots while occasionally stirring the pot.

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