An arctic blast dumping snow on the Midwest on Sunday is expected to eventually cover two-thirds of the nation and bring record cold to the South.
The Arctic blast broke off from the polar vortex above Canada, sending the cold air south. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul characterized it as the first winter storm of the 2025-26 season.
A list of National Weather Service bulletins Sunday shows more than 105 million people are the subject of advisories, watches and warnings on freezing conditions, winter weather, and lake effect snow.
The blast is forecast to spread across the eastern two-thirds of the nation, and it could bring freezing temperatures to much of the South by Tuesday while setting low temperature records, the weather service said in Sunday's national forecast discussion.
Parts of Florida are in for meteorological whiplash.
The temperature at Miami International Airport reached a hair under 85 degrees on Sunday afternoon, according to the weather service. A buoy on the Palm Beach County coastline measured an ocean temperature of 82 degrees on Sunday. By Tuesday, low air temperatures for parts of the Miami region were expected to dive into the 30s and 40s and feel even colder, federal forecasters said.
Record low temperatures could be seen Monday and Tuesday morning in Birmingham, Alabama; Tupelo, Mississippi; and in the Tennessee cities of Knoxville, Memphis, and Nashville.
Afternoon highs in parts of the South were expected to be 10 to 25 degrees below normal.
Snow will fall from the Great Lakes to New England and northern New York state down to the mountains of eastern North Carolina by Monday and Tuesday. Storm totals of 12 to 18 inches of snow is possible in parts of Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan and West Virginia.
The frigid airmass was already bringing powder and lake effect snow to parts of the Midwest on Sunday night. Video shared on social media showed heavy snow and low visibility in northern Wisconsin, lake effect snow in northwest Indiana, and light snow falling in northern Illinois.
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula was blanketed by 11 inches of snow on Sunday.
Lake effect snow is produced when cold air moves over the relatively warm Great Lakes and picks up rising particles of water that rapidly form into snow bands.
Officials of the Chicago-area's Cook County issued a "winter weather warning" for Sunday night through the end of Monday and advised motorists to stay off roads during lake effect snowfall.
Hochul advised New York residents to expect 3 to 6 inches of snow in Chautauqua County and possibly 3 to 5 inches in Niagara and Orleans counties from late Sunday into Tuesday night. "Feels like" temperatures for parts of the state will dip into the mid-teens, her office said in a statement.
The governor's office indicated the state shelter program known as "Code Blue" is likely to be activated, as it's triggered under state law when temperatures dip below 32. It mandates shelter, and longer shelter hours, for homeless people.
Hochul's office also said the state was prepared to respond to weather-related emergencies and has 1,571 large plow trucks, 148 medium duty plows and 54 tow plows ready to be deployed to clear snow and disabled vehicles form roadways.
“State agencies are at the ready to assist New Yorkers and to ensure our communities remain safe during the first winter storm of the year,” Hochul said in the statement Sunday.
The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency urged people in the state to prepare for the coldest temperatures of the system Monday night into Tuesday by ensuring a sufficient supply of food, keeping dry firewood at the ready, and checking on elderly and disabled friends and neighbors.
