Weekly Weather Watch: Tuesday, February 18th, 2025
One word. Brrrr. This week, an Arctic air mass is heading south through the central U.S., bringing some seriously cold weather, with record-breaking low temps likely. Expect sub-freezing temperatures to stretch all the way down to the Gulf Coast. On top of that, heavy snow is moving from the Rockies today, heading across the central Plains, Ozarks, Tennessee Valley, North Carolina, and into the southern Mid-Atlantic states by Wednesday.
A quick tidbit: On Monday, Bismarck, ND, set a daily record low temperature of -35°F, which broke the city’s existing record from 1875 (-30°F)! In Edmonton, AB, the wind chills steadily have been near -50°F again this week… for a guy frequently in Canada, I’m glad to be home right now… no offense, friends.
Members, you should have received your weekly update yesterday, including your threshold probabilities for this cold event. Give me a holler if you didn’t see that email.
HEADLINERS:
Later this week and through the weekend, the highest potential for meaningful precipitation in the Pacific Northwest stretches into next week. Meanwhile, there’ll be a pronounced warming trend over the western half of the U.S. and Canada.
Risk of heavy snowfall for the Cascades and Northern Rockies, Thu-Sat, Feb 27-Mar 1.
Risk of high winds for portions of coastal Southern California, Wed-Thu, Feb 26-27.
Risk of high winds for portions of the Northern and Central Plains, Wed-Tue, Feb 26-Mar 4.
ON THE RADAR:
KEEP AN EYE TO THE SKY:
IN THE GAUGES:
GRAB A RULER:
RECORDS MADE TO BE BROKEN:
ARE YOU CIRRUS?!
On this day in history:
1979 The winter of 1978-79 was the coldest winter on record in the United States. New York recorded it coldest temperature ever with a reading of -52 at Old Forge.
1899 While most of the nation suffered during a severe cold wave, San Francisco reached 80 degrees setting a record high temperature.