Winter 2016

Winter’s first major cold snap is blasting into the western United States on Monday. Through the rest of the week, temperatures will bottom out at 20 to 30 degrees below normal in the West. Most of the Lower 48 will experience the coldest weather of the season thus far by Sunday. The jet stream is pushing south this week, and as it does, it will allow cold air to spill in from Canada, and the Mountain West and Plains will endure the most biting chill. In Denver, temperatures are plummeting on Monday afternoon. After highs around 50 degrees, Denver’s temperature will fall into the teens Monday night. Tuesday night will be in the single digits, and Wednesday night will bottom out at subzero in the Mile High City. Parts of Montana — the Lower 48’s coldest locations — will be in the single digits through most of the week. In Cut Bank, Mont., the forecast low Tuesday night is a bone-chilling minus-11 degrees. When you factor in 20-mph wind gusts, the temperature will feel like minus-20 or minus-30. Northern California is also expecting a chill, although it won’t be nearly as intense as in the northern Rockies. Lows will drop to the 30s on Monday and Tuesday night in the San Francisco Bay area, except at locations near the coast where temperatures will be moderated by the warmer ocean water. Temps in the 30s may not seem that cold, but they will be as much as 10 degrees below normal for this time of year in Northern California.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2016/12/05/the-coldest-air-of-the-season-so-far-is-spilling-into-the-lower-48-this-week/?utm_term=.3f24c78d24f8