May 9, 2020 - Energy & Climate

Record-low temperatures and snow hit eastern U.S.

Orion Rummler

This image shows a heat map of the world, with the eastern U.S. as the coldest part — Photo: Climate Reanalyzer, Climate Change Institute, University of Maine. Data from the NOAA Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR) and NWS Global Forecast System

North Carolina, West Virginia, Massachusetts and other states across the eastern U.S. saw snow this weekend as temperatures dropped to levels "virtually unheard of in May," the Washington Post's Capital Weather Gang reports.

Catch up quick: Arctic air crossed into the country from Canada on Friday, freezing Chicago and Indianapolis and dropping snow in the Northeast and across Appalachia.

A National Weather Service weather balloon near Washington Dulles International Airport recorded the area's coldest May reading on record at about 5,000 feet, the Post reports.
"From Texas to Maine, record lows for May 9 fell in every state in the eastern half of the Lower 48 north of Florida," Matthew Cappucci writes.

What's next: States east of the Appalachians can expect more near-record-low temperatures on Sunday, while most of the Midwest will begin to warm up late Saturday, the Post reports.

Go deeper: Polar vortex could bring record-cold temperatures in parts of Midwest, Northeast

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Record-low temperatures and snow hit eastern U.S.

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