Arctic blast to bring season’s coldest air to central and eastern US
An unusually cold polar air mass is set to bring the lowest temperatures of the season so far to much of the central and eastern United States, while a powerful storm is expected to bring strong winds, rain, thunderstorms and snow to parts of the country, Qazinform News Agency reports.
The cold air is expected to spread south and east from Wednesday night through Thursday as a large low-pressure system moves from the northern Plains toward the Mid-Atlantic coast, according to the US National Weather Service (NWS) report. The system will bring windy conditions across the eastern US on Thursday, while showers and thunderstorms are expected across the Midwest, Ohio and Tennessee Valleys from Wednesday into Wednesday night. Some storms could produce damaging wind gusts.
By Friday morning, temperatures below freezing could extend as far south as Tennessee and the southern Appalachians. Highs across much of the Midwest are expected to remain in the 40s, while temperatures in the northern Plains could fall into the 20s. The NWS also forecasts a widespread hard freeze across the South this weekend.
Steady rain is expected from the northern Mid-Atlantic to southern New England from Thursday into Friday, accompanied by strengthening coastal winds and a risk of minor flooding during high tides. Rain is forecast to turn to snow over higher elevations of the central and southern Appalachians on Thursday night, while wet snow is possible in higher terrain of the interior Northeast. Lake-effect rain and snow showers are also expected near the Great Lakes, with accumulating snow likely over higher terrain in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and near the southern shore of Lake Superior.
Dry air and gusty northerly winds are expected to increase fire danger across parts of the lower Mississippi Valley and central Gulf Coast on Thursday. Scattered showers and thunderstorms are also possible across Florida on Wednesday afternoon.
Meanwhile, much of the western US will remain unusually warm, with a few daily record highs possible across the Pacific Northwest, Great Basin and southern Idaho. Rain is forecast along the Washington coast and Olympic Mountains on Wednesday, while another Pacific storm is expected to bring heavy rain to northern California and the Pacific Northwest by Friday morning.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that more than one million lightning pulses were detected within an 800-kilometre radius of Carnegie, a cattle station in Western Australia's arid interior, in the 24 hours to 7 am (AWST), illuminating parts of Western Australia, the Northern Territory and South Australia with spectacular thunderstorms.
