12:00 PM | Can winter be far behind?

Discussion

Snow fell yesterday for the first time this season in some of the highest elevations of the Colorado Rockies such as at Pikes Peak and Winter Park, and low temperatures bottomed out at 10 degrees in western Montana - can winter be far behind? The cold shot that helped to cause the Colorado snow yesterday is now advancing to the east with much cooler-than-normal weather expected today in the Upper Midwest, central Plains and central Rockies. While this air mass will modify somewhat by the time it reaches the east coast this weekend, we’ll have below-normal temperatures here on both days with highs confined to the 70’s (normal high for Philly is now 80 degrees, 81 in DC, and 77 at Central Park). This pattern will repeat itself next week as another significant cold shot will drop southeastward from Canada into the US, and while, once again, the coldest temperatures relative-to-normal will occur over the Great Lakes, Upper Midwest and central Plains, we’ll experience below-normal temperatures here in the East for much of the week; especially, after a mid-week cold frontal passage. This current pattern with widespread below-normal temperatures represents a dramatic reversal for much of the nation from this summer’s excessive heat, and we'll continue to monitor this important change to see if it will last right into the winter season.