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As I stepped out the door at 4.43am this morning here in central lowland Scotland, I knew it felt cold, couldn’t have been much above freezing. The Winds that pick up during the day as the sun warms the surface and cooler air over our surrounding waters rush in as the land heats had calmed to a whisp overnight under brilliant clear skies. Any warmth during the day quickly radiates back to space after sundown and as nights grow longer and any night that stays calm and clear, it’s only a matter of time before the first scrape of the windshield occurs. This morning I thought I may have needed to scraper but it wasn’t quick cool enough.
Since returning home from work and seeing what the temps across the United States were I was amazed at how cold some pockets are right now as of 2.30pm GMT, 9.30am ET or 6.30am MT.
The reading at Ely, Nevada is currently 15 degrees and with a wind clearly blowing, it feels like just 4 degrees out there. That would catch your breathe stepping outside this morning! This is in stark contrast to much milder air further south in the state of Nevada where Las Vegas and Laughlin bottomed out at 59 in Vegas and 69 at Laughlin with no wind chills. For even these resort cities, this could be considered a cool morning after recent 100s down there.
Contrast in high’s yesterday: Las Vegas 78, Laughlin 87, whilst Ely was only 45.
It’s also a shivery 19 at Grand Canyon, Arizona. A sharp contrast to yesterday’s national high which was reported at Picacho Peak, Arizona.
Yesterday morning saw a reading down to 20 degrees at Embarrass. Minnesota’s coldest spot. Although cold, this isn’t anything terribly unusual for Sept 31 or Oct 1. Especially when high pressure and dry air is in place. many high-elevated valleys likely have a dusting to perhaps a few inches of snow already on the ground so it doesn’t take much for the thermometer in these typically cold hollows to plummet at night.
The “dry air” is key to explaining the rapid rise in temperature after sunrise from bitter levels to balmy levels by afternoon. This is why high elevated areas of the West see the coldest nights in summer and that is something I’m going to talk more about shortly.
BTW, according to AccuWeather’s daily summaries, the cold spot yesterday morning was a typical summer cold spot, Bodie State Park in the California high country which bottomed out at, wait for it…. 10 degrees! Ouch. Big swings from the 100s not that far south in Death Valley!
Thanks for reading.
-Mark
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