Cold blast gives US early taste of winter

After a pleasantly mild weekend, parts of the US are now experiencing a cold blast of Arctic air with heavy snow blowing in from Canada. This has set up a white Veteran’s Day on Tuesday, and it could be one to remember.

The fierce winds dived out of the Canadian Prairies and brought blizzard conditions into the Midwest. Temperatures plunged and some parts saw more than 30cm of snow in barely 24 hours.

The snow extends from the Rockies to the Lakes. The worst of the snow was across Minnesota and Wisconsin. St Augusta, about 120km northwest of Minneapolis, reported an impressive 42cm.

It is still early to see this much snow. This is likely to be the heaviest pre-Thanksgiving snow for 20 years.

The cold blast is all part of a powerful system pushed in by the remnants of Super Typhoon Nuri which passed Japan’s east coast over a week ago. Thereafter, the remnants of the storm explosively intensified as it moved over Alaska’s Aluetian Islands.

The arrival of the storm smashing into the jet stream caused it to dive south and dragging Arctic air across Central Canada and into the US Plains.

On Sunday Denver, Colorado had a top temperature of 21 Celsius. By Wednesday it’ll struggle to reach minus 11 degrees.

The cold air will gradually make its way across much of the US. Atlanta, Georgia can expect a 10 degree drop in temperature by Thursday with highs barely touching 9C.

The cold air will reach northern Florida early next week. Jacksonville currently has highs around 26 Celsius. Top temperatures are like to be nearer 15C by Tuesday with overnight lows around 2 degrees.