Incoming cold snap among chilliest ever so early

Powerful southerly winds only a few thousand feet above the ground sweeping up the west end of the continent are responsible for a wavy jet stream pattern expected to deliver the Midwest one of its coldest early season shots in years. Gusts of 80-100 m.p.h. slammed into the mountains of southern Alaska, first churning up waves three stories high on the Gulf of Alaska and producing 82 m.p.h. wind gusts at Barter Island on the state’s arctic coast near ANWR (the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge). While comparatively mild and wet there, these winds are likely to powerfully push frigid arctic air south into Canada and ultimately the U.S.
The powerful cold blast they unleash could limit Thursday’s daytime readings here to the 30s and Friday’s highs to the 40s. The coldest high on record here through Oct. 12 (Thursday’s date) is 43° set on Oct. 9, 1964. Thursday’s 37° would be colder.
-Tom Skilling