This archive report was first published on 13 November 2019.
On November 12, 2019, a significant portion of the United States experienced a sudden and drastic drop in temperatures, leaving millions of Americans to face freezing conditions.
Temperatures in Texas, which had been warm just a day earlier, plummeted to near-freezing levels, with the 'feels like' reading dropping from 92 to 31 degrees in some areas.
As the cold air mass moved east, it brought snow and freezing temperatures to the Midwest and Northeast, with schools in Ohio, Vermont, and other states calling off classes due to the weather.
According to the National Weather Service, the air mass was expected to break more than 150 daily-temperature records by the time it moved on.
"This kind of weather is coming a month or two earlier than normal," said Marc Chenard, a National Weather Service meteorologist. "I wouldn’t call it extreme cold, but it is extremely below average for this time of year."
A Precipitous Drop in Temperatures in the South ¶
In McAllen, Texas, the heat index had reached 92 degrees just a day earlier, but by Tuesday morning, it felt like 31 degrees with the wind chill.
"Anybody that’s outside — any of the homeless — we have to be careful with that big temperature drop," said Rick Hallman, a meteorologist who covers the Rio Grande Valley for the National Weather Service.
Midwest Residents Unfazed by the Cold ¶
Temperatures dropped even lower in the Midwest, but residents and officials there said they were generally unfazed and were always prepared for an early winter storm.
"It’s a fact of life here," said Mandy Minick, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Education. "And we deal with it the same way we do every year."
Northeast Experiences a 'Kickoff to Winter' ¶
Snowfalls could measure up to a foot in the Northeast, with the greatest amounts in the Adirondacks, the Green Mountains of Vermont, and northern Maine.
"It definitely creates the kickoff to winter," said Alyssa Rosengard, manager of Burton Snowboards’ flagship store in Burlington, Vermont.
Climate Change and the Cold Snap ¶
With such a drastic drop in temperatures across so much of the country, questions are often asked about how it can be so chilly if climate change is warming the globe.
However, such questions may confuse weather and climate, with weather dealing with short-term variations and climate referring to long-term averages and trends.
