Winter has come early this year — or at least it feels like it for much of the U.S.
From Utah and Colorado to Iowa and Chicago, snow, sleet and arctic temperatures have descended on a large swath of the United States.
In Salt Lake City, the mercury plunged to a 50-year low of 21 degrees on Monday, while winter advisories were in effect from the Wasatch Range to Provo through Tuesday night, NBC affiliate KSL reported.
“It feels a little early to be talking like this,” said John Gleason, a state Department of Transportation spokesman, according to the station. “We’re getting ready for snow.”
Forecasters with the National Weather Service said a storm system from the Northern Rockies was descending on Colorado on Monday night, bringing sub-zero temperatures and as much as 16 inches of snow to parts of the Front Range.
It’s the second storm in as many days for Colorado. One over the weekend blanketed the region, topping out at nearly a foot in West Boulder, NBC affiliate KOAA reported.
Eastern Iowa was also expecting a pair of storms this week — one Monday night into Tuesday with snow and ice, and a second on Wednesday with rain and snow, NBC affiliate KWWL reported.
Chicago could see its first snowflakes of the season on Monday night, NBC Chicago reported, while Green Bay, Wisconsin, is awaiting a few inches Tuesday morning, NBC affiliate WGBA reported.
