May Chill Brings Snow and Record Lows to the Midwest and Northeast

Brian Donegan
Published: May 15,2016
Even though Memorial Day Weekend, the unofficial start to summer, is only two weeks away, it is feeling more like St. Patrick's Day Weekend across the Midwest and Northeast.
Parts of several states from the Upper Midwest into the Great Lakes have seen record low temperatures and even some snow.
Among the daily record lows set for May 14 on Saturday were Grand Forks, North Dakota (23 degrees), Kansas City, Missouri (40 degrees - tie), Madison, Wisconsin (30 degrees - tie), and Paducah, Kentucky (43 degrees - tie). On Sunday morning, Chicago (35 degrees - tie), La Crosse, Wisconsin (30 degrees), and South Bend, Indiana (31 degrees), all dipped to daily record lows for May 15.
Snow has also been reported this weekend in parts of Wisconsin, Michigan, northeast Ohio, northwest Pennsylvania and northern New York. Marquette, Michigan, picked up 1.1 inches of snow on Saturday.

Chilly Forecast Timing

A cold front slid through the Midwest Friday into Friday night with showers and thunderstorms. This weekend, the jet stream, or river of fast-moving air separating cold air from warm air, is dipping southward and a cool, Canadian airmass will dominate through at least Monday.

Current Temperatures

High temperatures will range from 15 to 25 degrees below average from Chicago over to Pittsburgh and Philadelphia on Sunday.
Washington D.C. up through Boston will also be feeling the chill as the jet stream continues its southward dip. Highs will be stuck in the 50s to low 60s across the Northeast Sunday afternoon. While Washington D.C. and Philadelphia improve to the mid 60s by Monday, that is still 5 to 15 degrees below average for mid-May.

Forecast Highs

Not only are high temperatures below average, but low temperatures are as well.
Lows in the Northeast won't be quite as chilly as the Great Lakes this weekend. Low temperatures in the 40s are expected across the Northeast on Monday morning, with 30s possible in interior locations.
A few daily record lows may be threatened in the Northeast Monday morning. This includes New York City which could dip near its daily record low for May 16 of 42 degrees set in 1878.

Forecast Lows

The highest elevations of Upstate New York and Northern New England also have a chance for some snow through Sunday night. Residents of the Catskills and Adirondacks in New York, the Green Mountains in Vermont, and the White Mountains in New Hampshire have the greatest potential to wake up with snow on the ground Monday morning.

Snow Forecast

Average Last Freeze

Believe it or not, having near- or below-freezing temperatures in mid-May are not all that uncommon. Much of the Upper Midwest, Great Lakes, and New England typically don't see their last freeze until between April 30 and May 20, which appears to be on target this year.
(MAPS: Frost and Freeze Advisories)

Average dates of the last freeze across the United States.

Return to Spring Temperatures

Below-average temperatures will be slow to exit next week across the Midwest and Northeast. The early part of the week will still feature cool temperatures, but the pattern appears to transition back toward spring by the middle of next week with highs warming to near-average levels.
(MAPS: 10-Day Forecast Highs/Lows)

MORE: April 2016 Snow in the Northeast (PHOTOS)