Cold blast set to bring abnormally chilly weather to parts of US

A cold blast ripping across much of the United States that has brought arctic chills and snow flurries to parts of the country is expected to settle into the lower 48 states over the next week and into Thanksgiving.

The unprecedented mid-November lows have brought a recent wave of warm weather across much of the central, southern and eastern parts of the country to a jarring halt.

Winter storm warnings came into effect this week with western parts of Oklahoma City seeing up to 7.3 inches of snow overnight and hazardous driving conditions, KOCO 5 News reported.

Weather advisories are said to stretch from the Texas Panhandle to northern Missouri as well as parts of Minnesota with the snow conditions expected to push into the Midwest and New England by the middle of the week.

Temperatures are expected to dip into the teens, the weekend coming, across the northern Plains and Upper Midwest region, according to the Washington Post.

Winter weather alerts were put in place across the region, including Kansas City, Oklahoma City, Wichita in Kansas, Amarillo in Texas, and Fort Smith in Arkansas. The falling snow may lead to reduced visibility and hazardous driving conditions.

A cold blast ripping across much of the United States has brought arctic chills and snow flurries to parts of the country with the icy temperatures predicted to settle into the lower 48 states over the next week and into Thanksgiving

Winter storm warnings came into effect this week with western parts of Oklahoma City seeing up to 7.3 inches of snow overnight and hazardous driving conditions

New York City, where the average mid-November high usually sits at the mid-50s, will see a drop to the high-40s with lows siting in the 30s, which are perfect temperatures for snow.

A weather advisory prompted by the National Weather Services on Monday predicted 'wintery precipitation' could arrive by Tuesday evening, according to the New York Post.

The precipitation will likely start as rain before changing over 'as the sun goes down overnight,' Fox Weather meteorologist Cody Braud told the New York Post.

The snow 'will probably linger to the morning hours on Wednesday on your morning commute as well,' said Braud.

The prediction of snowfall comes unseasonably early for the region that typically sees its first flakes around early to mid-December.

The extraordinary weather shift is an extreme contrast to the 77 highs seen for example in Central Park last week and came over the weekend as seen in Washington DC where highs of 72 on Saturday, dropped to lows of 54 by Sunday.

Hazardous driving conditions are the biggest concern heading into the early cold snap with motorists driving between Kansas and Oklahoma overnight warning novice snow drivers to stay off the road

The National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center is calling for odds of below-average temperatures for most of the country, except Alaska, Florida and the Pacific Northwest

In Boston, which typically sees temperatures in the low 50s saw a record high of 76 but this week could see lows in the upper 20s to lower 30s.

In the Midwest around the Great Lakes region, Chicago also peaked at 76 last week while at the weekend temperatures dropped to a chilling high of 36.

The National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center is calling for odds of below-average temperatures for most of the country, except Alaska, Florida and the Pacific Northwest.

Overnight Minnesota saw heavy snowfall with one towing company telling the Star Tribune they saw accumulatios of two to 3 inches, while the airport saw four inches by Monday evening.

About 244 crashes were recorded statewide with 21 injuries across the day, the local outlet reported. 

Further south in Oklahoma drivers speaking to Kake.com said driving conditions were made difficult by snow overnight.

Riella Pardise who had been driving between Oklahoma and Kansas said that 'it was crazy driving in it.'

'You have to be on your game, if you're not then, I mean I've seen cars flipped over, trucks in the middle in the median. I mean, it was really bad,' Pardise said.

'So, if y'all don't know how to drive on snow, I suggest y'all stay home. You couldn't see the truck 40 feet in front of you.'

Although there was snow, the weather caused the roads to be slick but did not create too many issues for drivers because ground temperatures stayed above freezing.