A sharp cold front is sweeping the United States, flipping the central, northern, and eventually eastern states from spring warmth to late-season freezes.
The Weather Prediction Center has stark lows spreading from the Southern Plains into the Midwest and Northeast through week's end, as a very cold air mass drops in, returning the Rockies, Plains and Upper Midwest to snow, frost and freeze territory.
The likes of Wyoming have already taken a hit.
On Tuesday, Rawlins fell to 8F (-13.3C), breaking its May monthly low-temperature record of 10F (-12.2C), set on May 2, 2013, in books dating back to 1951. NWS Cheyenne also expects another daily record low there Wednesday, May 20.
Freeze Warnings cover parts of southeast Wyoming and western Nebraska. NWS Riverton warned of 25F to 30F (-3.9C to -1.1C) across parts of central Wyoming, with pockets near 20F (-6.7C) where snow remains on the ground.
The cold has already gripped north of the border.
Winnipeg Airport, for example, just endured one of its coldest May Long Weekends in records dating back to 1872. The weekend maximum reached only 10.6C (51.1F), tied with 1882 for the coldest on record. The average daily maximum was 9.3C (48.7F), second coldest. The three-day mean came in at 5.2C (41.4F), the coldest May Long Weekend since 1997.
Snowflakes were also reported, which, while not unheard of on the May Long Weekend, averages only about once per decade.
South America's Cold Push Deepens
Chile has taken the sharpest hit from South America's early-season cold outbreak, with frost now biting through the country's central agricultural belt.
The Maule region fell as low as -3.5C (25.7F) on Monday, according to local reporting from Talca, which described the reading as a "record minimum." A polar air mass had pushed north through the continent; clear skies and light winds then let temperatures collapse overnight, producing damaging radiational frost across central Chile.
(More here)
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