January 15, 2024 |
Photo – Weather map – Courtesy National Weather Service
The wintry weekend brought much-needed snow to Carbon County. Overnight Friday, the temperature dropped to -20 by 7:15. By Saturday afternoon, the high topped out at 18 around 2 p.m. Skies became overcast throughout the afternoon. About five or six inches of snow fell overnight.
Still the weather is not that extreme compared to historical data. The National Weather Service reported Friday that the high temperature for January 13 was set in 1996 when the temperature was 50. It wasn’t global warming, though. Nine years later in 2007, Rawlins saw the temperature drop to -19. It dropped to -25 on January 14, 2007.
In other words, we’re right in the zone.
The blast of arctic cold air making a deep plunge into the U.S. will penetrate the American South and could drop temperatures below freezing for several days in a row. Several daily cold records will be in jeopardy.
Dangerously cold wind chills are also expected, especially in the Northern Plains and Rockies. The cold pattern could hang on until the last full week of January or longer. On Sunday morning, 82 million Americans felt were hit with wind chill temperatures below zero.
Winter Storm Heather is its name. The Arctic cold outbreak could smash records from Washington State to the Gulf Coast, according to the Weather Channel.
Dickinson, North Dakota, registered a minus 66 degree wind chill early Saturday morning. Even more brutal, Lupin, in Canada’s Northwest Territories measured a minus 77 degree wind chill Saturday morning, with a 40 mph wind accompanying temperatures in the minus 30s.
The strong blast of cold temperatures across through the Plains and Midwest will work its way toward the Southeast and finally the East Coast by Wednesday.
Among notable snowfall amounts, Chicago’s O’Hare Airport could plunge to the minus teens for the first time since the January 2019 cold outbreak, and could fail to rise above zero during the day Monday and/or Tuesday. Oklahoma City could plunge below zero for the first time since the historic February 2021 cold outbreak. That said, we don’t expect this outbreak to match the ferocity of either the January 2019 or February 2021 outbreaks.
Here in southern Wyoming, a winter storm warning remains in effect until 11 a.m. Monday morning. Wind chill warnings are in effect until 11 a.m. Tuesday.
The impacted areas include the Interstate 80 corridor between Laramie and Rawlins. Rock River and Bosler in northern Albany County are included in the impacted areas.
Due to snowfall amounts, dangerous wind chill temperatures and the potential for more hazardous weather, Hanna Elementary, Medicine Bow Elementary and the H.E.M. Jr./Sr. High School will run on a late start schedule Monday. School start times are bumped back two hours. School busses for the north schools are adjusting their schedules.
Meteorologist Don Day will have the local forecast here in on Bigfoot 99.
