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Temperatures as much as 30 to 50 degrees below normal are entering the Northern Plains as we close out the workweek. Through the weekend, brutal conditions you might expect in a frigid January overtake the central portion of the country, from the Mexican to the Canadian borders. Heading into the first full week of March, Arctic air takes up residence in the East as well. When it’s all done, most of the contiguous United States will endure a punishing blow of frigid air from this Arctic blast. Records for cold are likely to be most numerous in the north-central United...

A major storm will bring snow, rain, ice or a wintry mix to more than 200 million Americans beginning Tuesday and continuing through Wednesday night, impacting roughly 60 percent of the U.S. population. Parts of 39 of the 48 contiguous United States will be impacted by the massive storm, including every state east of the Mississippi River. The storm will have such a large impact on so many because it will reach parts of 26 of the 30 most populous states. As the large storm rolls up the Tennessee and Ohio valleys at midweek, it will bring snow, ice and...

Winter Storm Maya will bring another round of snow to the Pacific Northwest to start the weekend, just days after Winter Storm Lucian snarled travel in both Seattle and Portland, Oregon, and this will kick off yet another expansive wintry mess of snow and ice across the Plains, Midwest and East into next week. (MORE: The Science Behind Naming Winter Storms at The Weather Channel)

Punxsutawney Phil may be calling for an early spring, but Georgia's own groundhog had a difference of opinion Saturday morning. General Beauregard Lee saw his shadow as he emerged from his home at the Dauset Trails Nature Center, signaling that Georgia should be prepared for six more weeks of winter

Records have been shattered as the polar vortex unleashed the harshest cold in years on the midwestern United States during the final days of January. After the polar vortex plunged southward, temperatures plummeted under 20 below zero F from North Dakota to northern Illinois during the morning hours of both Wednesday and Thursday. On Thursday morning, 9 states in the Midwest and northern New England recorded temperatures lower than the northernmost point in Alaska (Utqiagvik, formerly known as Barrow). Biting winds made the extreme cold more life-threatening as AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures dropped under 50 below zero. Frostbite can occur in...

IRUSH: Go to the audio sound bites, just to show you what we’re up against here. We have lifetime, record breaking cold because of a polar vortex in the upper Midwest. There is no question we have record breaking cold. I’m gonna tell you, we’ve had sunspot activity that’s been declining. We’ve been reporting on this for the last the eight years. Democrats, media, leftists do not allow any discussion of the sun whenever there is a discussion on climate change. They say the sun is irrelevant to the earth’s climate. Can’t talk about it. But some of this —...

NEW DELHI: The long and chilly winter in north India this year could be linked to cold blasts from the Arctic region that have been spilling southwards since late December due to the breakdown of a wind circulation called the polar vortex, Indian Met officials said. As north India continues to reel under severe cold, with the temperature dropping to -1.1 degrees Celsius in Churu, Rajasthan on Tuesday, an official in the India Meteorological Department said the sustained chill over the region appears to be linked to the polar vortex breaking up — an event that has brought freezing spells...

It's a question that pops up whenever it's really cold: If there's global warming, why is it so cold? According to meteorologist Ray Wolfe, with National Weather Service Quad-Cities, it's not that simple. "I think a good way to think about it is climate is your personality, and weather is your mood," Wolfe said. "Your personality is who you are over the long-term, and your mood can vary day-to-day for any number of factors that influence it." In other words, climate change is a long-term trend. "Clearly in our part of the world, as well as globally, the temperature has...

Winters in Finland are often frigid, but meteorologists say the Nordic nation’s Lapland region has produced Europe’s coldest temperature this winter at –38.7°C (–37.7°F). Meteorologist Ari-Juhani Punkka from the Finnish Meteorological Institute told Finnish public broadcaster YLE on Sunday that Finland and northeastern Europe were now hosting the continent’s coldest air masses, ones that “are Arctic in nature.” …

A surge of arctic air is about to bring parts of the Midwest the coldest temperatures in years by the middle of this week, as part of the polar vortex is set to blast the region with dangerously cold temperatures. The National Weather Service said in its forecast discussion that a "potentially record breaking push" of Arctic air will inundate the Northern Plains and Great Lakes by Wednesday, bringing wind chills as low as -40 degrees in many locations. "There's no mild way of saying it. Brutal cold is coming," the NWS' Chicago office said on Twitter.

According to WXIX, Cody Lutz, his fiance Lucy and soon-to-be sister-in-law decided to build an over-sized snowman in the front yard after a big snowstorm hit the area. “We were playing in the snow, she’s from Mississippi so this is the most snow she’s ever seen in her entire life. I’m from Buffalo so this is no big deal,” Lutz told WXIX. “I love the snow!” But to make the snowman, Lutz decided to use a large tree stump in their yard for the base and covered it with snow. When Lutz came home on Monday, he saw tire tracks...

Full Headline: "French ski resort workers are killed in an explosion while trying to clear an avalanche and three skiers die in the Austrian alps as the worst snowfall in 30 years continues to batter Europe" Two employees at a ski resort in the French Alps died today when the avalanche-control charges they were trying to set accidentally went off. Three German skiers were also killed in an avalanche in the Austrian Alps - and a fourth is missing, as the worst snowfall in 30 years continues to batter Europe. The pair of French workers were carrying out a controlled...

Deadly winter weather blasted Europe for yet another day Tuesday, trapping hundreds of people in Alpine regions, whipping up high winds that caused flight delays and cancellations and raising the risks of more deadly avalanches in the mountains. At least 13 people have been killed in weather-related accidents in Europe over the last week, most of them from avalanches. In Norway, attempts to find the bodies of four skiers were again put on hold due to poor visibility and heavy snowfall. A 29-year Swedish woman and three Finns, aged 29, 32 and 36, were presumed dead after a 300-meter (990-foot)...

SEATTLE -- Strong wind gusts, approaching 60 mph in some areas, toppled trees and took down power lines on Sunday morning. In Seattle, more than 50,000 customers were in the dark by 2:30 a.m. according to Seattle City Light. By afternoon, crews were still working to restore power for roughly 6,000 City Light customers. Outages ballooned in cities to the south of Seattle, and on the Eastside, where Puget Sound Energy's outage map showed a combined total of nearly 220,000 customers affected early on.

Sorry I meant to post this a couple of days ago, but Pani Shirmpska has been ill. Anyway, enjoy: Jethro Tull - Ring Out Solstice bells 1976 Now is the solstice of the year Winter is the glad song that you hear Seven maids move in seven time Have the lads up ready in a line Ring out these bells Ring out, ring solstice bells Ring solstice bells Join together 'neath the mistletoe, By the holy oak whereon it grows Seven druids dance in seven time Sing the song the bells call, loudly chiming Ring out these bells Ring out,...

A mild winter could be in store for much of the United States this winter according to NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center. In the U.S. Winter Outlook for December through February, above-average temperatures are most likely across the northern and western U.S., Alaska and Hawaii. Additionally, El Nino has a 70 to 75 percent chance of developing. “We expect El Nino to be in place in late fall to early winter,” said Mike Halpert, deputy director of NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center. “Although a weak El Nino is expected, it may still influence the winter season by bringing wetter conditions across the...

WASHINGTON — Say it ain’t snow! The weather outside really is frightful Thursday, and staying home for a lot of school kids in the Washington area is surely delightful. But D.C.’s first snowfall has created conditions that are cold, wet and dangerous for many commuters. It isn’t just snow either. There’s also sleet and freezing rain to contend with. Check out photos of winter’s first slap of the season below.

...The bottom line A detailed analysis of many different factors suggests to me that much of the eastern half of the nation should experience a colder-than-normal winter with more snow than normal. Coastal storms in the eastern US will be much more of a threat this winter as compared to last year when La Nina conditions dominated in the equatorial Pacific. Overall temperatures in the Mid-Atlantic region are likely to end up about 1.5-3.0 degrees (F) below-normal for the winter season and perhaps an even more dramatic chill will take place in the Southeast US where overall temperatures may average...

Freak changes in the composition of space around the sun are about to drive a chain of meteorological events locking the UK into a savage early Arctic freeze, it has been claimed. The so-called solar corona has become dotted with holes on its Earth-facing side threatening serious knock-on effects to the flow of the jet stream and the weather this winter. Temperatures are expected to nosedive towards the end of October bringing ‘substantial snowfall’ across Scotland, northern and central England. It could herald the start of a four-month Polar assault with snow and sub-zero temperatures threatening to grip the nation...

“Summer will end soon enough, and childhood as well.” – George R.R. Martin, Game of Thrones “Reflect on what happens when a terrible winter blizzard strikes. You hear the weather warning but probably fail to act on it. The sky darkens. Then the storm hits with full fury, and the air is a howling whiteness. One by one, your links to the machine age break down. Electricity flickers out, cutting off the TV. Batteries fade, cutting off the radio. Phones go dead. Roads become impassible, and cars get stuck. Food supplies dwindle. Day to day vestiges of modern civilization –...