Record-Breaking November Arctic Cold: How Long Will It Last?

Source: http://preview.weather.com/storms/winter/news/arctic-cold-outbreak-november-locked-20141110


Here are some other cold notables so far:

- Casper, Wyoming, dipped to -27 at 11:59 p.m. Wednesday night, shattering their all-time November record low of -21 on Nov. 23, 1985 (records date to 1939). The temperature stayed at -27 at midnight Thursday, making it the new record low for Nov. 13 as well. Previously, the soonest Casper plunged to -27 was on Dec. 5, 1972. Casper's high of 6 on Nov. 11 was the record earliest single-digit or colder high temperature there. (On Nov. 15, 1955, the high was only -3 degrees). Wednesday, Casper only managed a high of 3 degrees!

- Denver's high of 6 on Nov. 12 was the coldest daily high so early in the season. Only three other November days had daily high temperatures colder in Denver, dating to 1872. Early Thursday morning, Denver chalked up a bone-chilling -14 degrees, easily the coldest temperature so early in the season. (Nov. 17, 1880 was the previous earliest such cold reading in Denver.)

- Livingston, Montana, dipped to -21 Wednesday, their coldest so early in the season. That said, they once dipped to -31 degrees just one day later in the calendar, on November 13, 1959.

- In the Southern Plains, Amarillo (21), Lubbock (27), Childress (29) and Goodland (14) all set their coldest daily high temperatures on record for so early in the season on Wednesday.


Here is the general forecast timing of each arctic cold surge, and when the coldest air may ease:

- Current arctic surge: Spreads into the East through Saturday

- Second arctic surge: Plunges down the High Plains and Rockies Friday through the weekend.

- Third arctic surge: Arrives in Northern Plains, Upper Midwest Sunday, then sweeps into the Ohio Valley, Deep South and East next Tuesday and Wednesday. For parts of the mid-Mississippi Valley, Ohio Valley, Tennessee Valley and the Middle Atlantic States, this could be the coldest of the surges with numerous daily record lows threatened.

- Cold relief: Possible later next week at least for the Rockies, central/southern Plains and South. Another cold surge may plunge into the Upper Midwest, Great Lakes and Northeast late next week.