The most frigid air mass of the 2003-04

[CaptinCrunch]

Cold Returns to East
8AM EST, January 5, 2004

The most frigid air mass of the 2003-04
winter has hit theContinental U.S. with
a vengeance, sending temperatures
plummeting from Washington to Maine.
Record high temperatures that have
covered the eastern half of the country
were being quickly erased as the cold
air advanced south and east.

By 4PM CST, temperatures around the
Houston, Memphis, Little Rock and
Birmingham areas had fallen as much
as 35 degrees from values recorded
just 24 hours earlier.

A WeatherNet live sensor in Ripley,
Mississippi had plummeted to a bone
chilling 32 degrees late Monday
afternoon, which was down from 72
degrees at the same time yesterday.
The cold air was not just limiting its
advance of the East. Cold air had
plunged over the Cascade Mountains
into the Pacific Northwest keeping
afternoon temperatures in the 20s and
low 30s in the Seattle and Portland
metro areas.

Readings in the single digits or below
zero were common from eastern
Washington and Oregon into the
northern Rockies.

Below zero readings were also
widespread through the northern
Plains. Wind chills were even more
bitter as northwest winds blew at 15 to
25 mph. A WeatherBug live sensor in
Alexandria in central Minnesota
recorded a temperature of 12 degrees
with steady winds of 15 mph, making
the wind chill an extremely dangerous
35 below zero.

A storm system was moving off the
coast of Long Island during the by late
Monday afternoon. This will allow the
cold air to flow into remainder of the
East by early Tuesday.

Norfolk, Virginia recorded a record high
temperature on of 76 degrees on
Monday but temperatures were
expected to drop to near 40 degrees by
early Tuesday.

Temperatures had already dropped
below freezing in Boston, and 1-3
inches of snow fell overnight in the
suburbs well north and west of the city.
Precipitation has generally moved off
the New England coast but icy road
conditions will be widespread tonight as
temperatures plummet.

The storm also left a swath of snow
across the Midwest. 6-10 inches of new
snow fell across Iowa and northern
Illinois. Four to six inches of snow fell in
the Chicago Metro Area. Similar
amounts also whitened southern
Michigan and Wisconsin.

Cold temperatures will dominate much
of the country over the next 24 hours.
By Tuesday afternoon, only southern
Florida will bask in the warmth with
enough sunshine and mild winds to
push temperatures into the lower 80s in
Miami.