Sudden Cold Numbs Nation; Hello, Winter
The first big cold wave of the season rolled across the nation Tuesday, dropping temperatures with startling speed.
After weeks of weather so mild that ski resorts worried about business, the first full day of winter dawned with temperatures plunging 40 degrees overnight in Texas, frost warnings being issued for California citrus growers and a foot of new snow falling in Michigan.
Early in the day, the mercury hit record highs in the 60s as far north as Newark, N.J., then plummeted when the cold air rushed in.
Temperatures fell from the 60s to the 20s overnight in northern Texas, and hit 10 below Tuesday morning in the Panhandle. Dyersburg, Tenn., went from a high of 70 Monday to 19 later the same day.
The nation’s cold spot Tuesday was Craig, Colo., where the low was minus 31.
The cold froze water pipes and car engines, and home furnaces quit.
In Brighton, Colo., a 76-year-old woman was found dead in her nursing home parking lot early Tuesday as temperatures dropped below zero.
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