Arctic air will bring wintry air to the Midwest and Eastern US beginning on Friday, while the West broils through late this week with a heat watch in effect today; plus more of today’s weather news and forecast.
Polar vortex to chill Midwest and East, weekend snow
Rare mid-May weather is going to bring an unseasonable chill over parts of the Midwest and Eastern US beginning on Friday courtesy of a polar vortex. Freeze warnings will be in effect for many areas as this bitter Arctic blast will bring snow and record low temperatures, according to AccuWeather.
High temperatures will plummet into the 40s for many areas north of the mid-Atlantic in the Northeast and around the Great Lakes, according to a forecast from the National Weather Service (NWS).
On Friday, snow is anticipated in portions of West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, and a bit of snow is forecast around Michigan, according to the European model.
The NWS forecast for Friday includes the Virginias, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, and to the east, the Dakotas, Montana, and Wyoming.
Into Saturday, the area of snowfall will include all of the aforementioned areas and will expand to include Wisconsin, Minnesota. The NWS forecast areas of heavy snow over New Hampshire and Maine.
Heatwave in the West
The National Weather Service has issued an excessive heat warning for much of the desert Southwest through late this week as well as a heat watch for the Los Angeles area. Las Vegas reached its first triple-digit heat day of 2020 on Wednesday hitting 101 degrees at the weather service measuring station.
Today’s US weather forecast
West: San Francisco 71, partly cloudy; Los Angeles 93, partly cloudy; Reno 76, mostly sunny; Las Vegas 96, sunny; Salt Lake City 63, sunny; Denver 74, windy.
Northwest & Northern Rockies: Seattle 66, sunny; Medford 85, sunny; Boise 65, sunny; Billings 58, rain; Minot 56, partly cloudy; Rapid City 55, rain.
Southwest: Phoenix 106, sunny; Albuquerque 89, windy; El Paso 100, sunny; San Antonio 88, cloudy; Brownsville 91, partly cloudy.
Central & Upper Midwest: Lubbock 99, windy; Dallas 86, windy; Oklahoma City 79, partly cloudy; Kansas City 62, rain; Minneapolis 61, partly cloudy.
Ohio Valley: Chicago 63, mostly sunny; St. Louis 70, mostly sunny, Detroit 63, partly cloudy; Cincinnati 69, mostly sunny.
South: Houston 86, sunny; New Orleans 79, sunny; Memphis 72, mostly sunny; Atlanta 69, sunny; Charlotte 69, sunny; Jacksonville 75, sunny; Tampa 78, sunny; Miami 85, partly cloudy.
East: Norfolk 66, partly cloudy; Washington, D.C. 68, sunny; Buffalo 51, rain; New York City 67, partly cloudy; Boston 62, partly cloudy; Bangor 55, partly cloudy.