A blast of arctic cold that swept over the Great Plains and Southwest in the United States has also thrust deep into Mexico with bone-chilling effect Wednesday and Thursday.
The extreme cold, potentially having temperatures at or below record levels, stressed populations unaccustomed to such weather. Heightened heating demand also burdened the electrical grid.
Low temperatures (degrees F) early Thursday morning on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border.
Thursday morning, temperatures dove into the single digits F in the northern high, intermountain states of Chihuahua and Coahuila. Temperatures bottomed between 5 and 14 degrees F, or between -15 C and -10 C, in the city of Chihuahua, and much of the state as a whole. This also happened as far south and east as Saltillo, Coahuila's state capital and a highland city located southwest of Monterrey.
Ciudad Juarez, lying across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas, shared its sister city's weather. Stinging winds and about 2 inches (5 cm) of snow accompanied El Paso's record low maximum temperature (17 F, a staggering 43 degrees F below normal) Wednesday. Thursday morning, temperatures as low as 2 F (-17 C) in El Paso, and 3 F (-16 C) in Ciudad Juarez, were reported. Wind chill was below -15 F, or -25 C, at times.
It was reported that the cold was the most severe since 1951 in Juarez. Schools and businesses shut, and there were also power blackouts. Some residents fled to shelters.
The lower reaches of the Rio Grande offered no resistance whatsoever to the biting-cold norther penetrating northeastern Mexico. Temperatures dipped into the 20s F (down to about -5 C) in the states of Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas, including the cities of Monterrey, Nuevo Laredo, Reynosa and Matamoros, to name a few. Heavy clouds even spit a little freezing rain, sleet and snow.
The cold wave also spilled over to northwestern Mexico, an area of mild winters that hosts winter crops grown in part for export to the U.S. Frosts and freezes were observed into the lowlands of the states of Sonora and northern Baja California.
Unusual cold, albeit with day-to-day moderation in temperature, will grip the northern quarter to one-third of Mexico through Saturday.
Severe weather will return to the Plains once again early next week as a potent storm system moves into the region.
Around 8:47 p.m. PDT, an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.7 shook in the mountains of California, according to the USGS.
More than 500 inbound and outbound flights at LaGuardia in New York were delayed due to the storms.
Timelapse powered by Google could help scientists with climate change research.
With one day remaining before Memorial Day weekend, the Sandy-battered Jersey coastline is hustling to finish last-minute preparations.
The Memorial Day weekend will begin cool, windy and rainy in New England and part of the mid-Atlantic.
| Extreme | Location | |
|---|---|---|
| High | N/A | |
| Low | N/A | |
| Precip | N/A |
North Texas (1986)
Severe thunderstorms produced 95 mph wind
gusts and widespread damage. More than 3" of
rain fell in less than an hour. A 29 year old
women and 6 year old daughter drowned when the
underpass they were driving into was flooded
out.
West Coast (1982)
Heat wave:
San Francisco, CA 91 degrees, (new record;
previous record 79 in 1975)
San Jose, CA 84 degrees
Portland, OR 85 degrees (tied record)
Philadelphia, PA (1992)
A dramatic cold frontal passage. Early afternoon
temperature over 80 degrees fell to a late-day
reading in the 40s.
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