NW Action: 166 MPH, -37 Degrees, 84 Inches of Snow
UPDATE: We have an excellent article quoting stats on this cold outbreak.
This Arctic air mass and storm in the Northwest quadrant of the country are no joke. They are pushing unusually cold air, high winds and heavy snow into the area, and the stats are amazing. AccuWeather.com Facebook fans report "25 and snow in McMinnville, Oregon and 1 degree F at Glacier, Montana.
Temperatures are in the teens in Seattle with blowing snow this morning (their normal low is 40; daily records were set for low temp & snow). And on the Washington Coast, winds have gusted to 72 mph at Whatcom. Check out the Washington D.O.T. cams to see the snow there.
In Montana, spotter reports indicated wind chills to -30 in Helmville last night, but actual temperatures fell to -37 at Bow Valley and Sundre in Alberta, Canada.
Officially in Colorado, 113 mph wind gusts were reported at Eagle Sunday, but unofficially a 166 mph gust was recorded near Boulder by a D.O.T. station. NOTE: This reading is in question; there isn't any obvious instrument malfunction in the data; the ratio of gusts to sustained is a little high. Nearby stations are not reporting high winds. If not 166, then 113, which is still impressive.
And in the high mountains of California, Sugar Bowl and Mammoth Mountain have reported 3-day snow storm totals over 80 inches! Blizzard, winter storm and other winter advisories have plastered the western U.S. map:
This will effectively shut down travel over much of the western half of the country today and tomorrow. Happy Thanksgiving.
