Chilliest a.m. here in 10 days as Plains brace for snow

Daybreak temperatures haven’t been lower here since Dec. 8 when readings bottomed out at 4°. Heavy frost has formed on the coldest outdoor surfaces, including automobiles. But, the deeper air mass is dry overall, a development which allows the sun to expeditiously warm it. Today will mark the 12th consecutive above-normal day. Big changes are ahead in the country’s limited snow cover, which is running a third that observed a year ago—16.9 percent versus 48 percent. Heavy snows are to spread into the western Plains over the next two days. Accumulations in excess of 2 feet are likely in the highest mountains of New Mexico and southern Colorado first. Then significant snows spread into an area from western Kansas to the Dakotas. One of the season’s chilliest air masses will produce a high of just 56° at Phoenix. California’s San Joaquin Valley was under frost and freeze warnings overnight. —By Tom Skilling, WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist