Bitterly Cold Air Returns

Monday morning Temperatures climbed well above freezing along the I-95 corridor early today, but it's all downhill for the rest of the day and tonight. A cold blast that has already sent temperatures below zero in Chicago will send readings tumbling through the teens tonight from Philadelphia to Boston.

A storm forming in the Gulf states (after the current cold front stalls) threatens to spread snow and ice across the Southeast. The risk of disruptive snow exists, but the greatest danger may be ice that gets thick enough to snap tree limbs and power liners. Coastal South Carolina and Georgia, plus locations near the Gulf Coast in Mississippi and Alabama, could face significant icing unless the storm track changes. In an ironic twist, suppose they had scheduled the Big Game for that area tomorrow night!!!

As the cold air moved eastward this morning, it was temporarily slowed by the Appalachians, producing the pattern shown on this pressure analysis: