Weather Channel Winter Updates

Winter Weather Update

December 3, 2012
More snow is on the way for the mountains of the Pacific Northwest. Cold air will begin pushing into the country midweek, and by the weekend we could be looking at a significant snowstorm in the Central U.S.

The maps on this page illustrate where cold air is building.  Blue-shaded areas indicate where a polar air mass with temperatures from 0 to 30 degrees is lurking.  Pink-shaded areas depict subzero cold areas.  

Cold air masses have their origin from Canada, Alaska, and, sometimes, even Siberia!  Air temperatures in the heart of winter can sometimes plunge colder than -60 degrees in low elevation, valley locations of Alaska, Canada and Siberia.

Given the right atmospheric pattern, this building cold air can plunge deep into the Lower 48 States, potentially locking in the West, Midwest, and/or East.  This cold air does "modify", or become less cold, as it plunges south into the Lower 48 States.