NOTE: This is a combined Weather by the Numbers and a spot check of cities that are really going to be hit hard by a widespread winter event. First a little preliminary information. A low pressure growing stronger was centered near Memphis at midday. When it gets over closer to the east coast and starts up the Atlantic Seaboard, it is going to do what we call “bomb out” into an intense coastal storm.
WEATHER BY THE NUMBERS
* 32 below zero was the coldest in the lower 48 states this morning at Saranac Lake in Upstate New York.
* 35 below was the coldest in Alaska at Ft. Yukon.
* 82 was the warmest yesterday at McAllen, Texas. (James Spann does daily forecasts for a radio station there.)
* 10 below zero was the official low temperature in Birmingham on this date in 1899 when the mother and father and grandfather of all cold waves overwhelmed a big part of the country east of the Rockies. The official observations were in downtown Birmingham at the time. There were unofficial reports of 14 below in some of the outlying areas. Of course, there was no Birmingham Airport at that time. I feel sure it would have been 14 or 15 below there and we did not have daily reports from Pinson. It could easily have been 15 or 16 below there, because we had a good snow cover.
* 44 inches of snow on the ground at Valdez, Alaska.
* 50 mph is the average wind speed on Mt. Washington, New Hampshire today with a temperature of 4 below zero and a wind chill of minus 37. (Translation: it is a relatively peaceful day there. It is going to be very interesting to see their wind gusts when that deep coastal storm moves up the east coast.)
* 5 is how many hurricane or tropical storm names were retired after the 2005 season. That is an all-time record. The previous was 4 names in 1955, 1995 and 2004. The names retired in 2005 were Dennis, Katrina, Rita, Stan and Wilma.
* 3 is how many of the 2005 hurricanes wound up in the top 10 of all time for the amount of damage. The estimated damage for Katrina alone was $96 billion and I am not sure that is a final total. Rita and Wilma were also in the top 10.
* 59 is the highest temperature of all time in Antarctica. It occurred at the Vanda Station, Scott Coast on January 5, 1974.
* 43,500 was the number of farms in Alabama in 2005. That was down from 45,000 in 2003.
ROUND UP OF TRAVEL PROBLEMS
INDIANAPOLIS
2 to 4 inches of snow the rest of today. Freezing rain also involved. A total of 4 to 7 inches of snow and ice through tonight with west winds as high as 40 mph. The low and high on Wednesday will be 10 and 20 with gusts up to 35 mph.
CHICAGO
Snow and blowing snow continues. 3 to 5 inches through today with 1 to 2 inches additional tonight making a total of 4 to 7 inches. Low tonight 6 to 10 with a wind chill as low as minus 10. High only 12 to 16 Wednesday. The low Wednesday night zero to 4 and a wind chill as low as 20 below zero.
SPRINGFIELD (ILLINOIS)
Blizzard Warnings continue until midnight. Total snow accumulation 10 to 15 inches as winds gust as high as 45 mph. Low tonight near 8 above.
COLUMBUS (OHIO)
Winter Storm Warning with 4 to 8 inches of snow and also mixed at times with sleet and freezing rain. Strong gusty winds.
PITTSBURGH
5 to 11 inches of snow accumulating as a Winter Storm Warning continues through Wednesday. A low near 7 Wednesday night and winds will be gusting over 30 mph.
WASHINGTON
A mix of freezing rain and sleet continuing this afternoon in the nation’s capitol changing to all freezing rain after midnight with about 1/4-inch ice accumulations. Now that does not sound like much ice, but 1/4-inch can play havoc with transportation. The freezing rain will continue into Wednesday morning and then change to snow. Low of 15 Wednesday night.
NEW YORK CITY
Snow starting late tonight. Tomorrow a mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain through the morning, maybe changing over to rain at times Wednesday afternoon.
BOSTON
Winter Storm Warning from midnight tonight through midnight Wednesday night. 2 to 4 inches of snow before daybreak. An additional 2 to 4 inches Wednesday morning. That makes 4 to 8 inches. There will be additional snow accumulation Wednesday night as wind gusts increase to 50 mph.
DENVER
2 to 5 inches of new snow tonight and Wednesday. Low tonight 3 and tomorrow night 4 below to 2 above. What a winter they have had.
OKLAHOMA CITY
Not much snow, but a lot of wind and much colder.
SARANAC LAKE, NEW YORK
It was 32 below zero there this morning–the coldest in the lower 48. Heavy snow will start late tonight and continue Wednesday. They expect 12 to 18 inches of new snow. We have a daily reader in Saranac Lake to our blog, 7-day planner and e-forecast. Bonnie Jackson is her name and by e-mail she said she is very tired of shoveling snow.
NANTUCKET, MASSACHUSETTS (OUT ON CAPE COD)
Check this one out. High Wind Watch with winds after midnight Wednesday night gusting to 60 mph with snow and blowing snow and temperatures in the mid 20s. Snow will start tonight, then sleet and rain after midnight, snow and sleet about 1 inch. The wintry precipitation will continue Wednesday night. That is going to create a real wintry scene.
I apologize for this post being so long. If I had mentioned every community in the USA that had winter weather worries, it would have taken you longer to read this than the famous old Sears Catalog in the 1940s and 50s.
