11:45 AM (Saturday) | ***Coast-to-coast winter that includes significant snow, dangerous icing and historic cold*** — Perspecta Weather

Overview

Arctic air has gripped much of the northern and central US in recent days and it is plunging later this weekend to Texas and Oklahoma where the cold may be historic and all-time low temperature records may be challenged in some spots. The longevity of this on-going cold wave across the northern and central US has been quite amazing. In addition to the widespread cold, significant snow has accumulated in the Pacific Northwest (e.g., Seattle, Portland) and is now moving into the Rocky Mountain States.  Later in the weekend, this snow will spread into far southern states of New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas and ice will become a problem all the way down to the Gulf coast of Texas.  Ice has, in fact, already become a major headache across parts of the Mid-Atlantic region including the DC metro region where several accidents have been reported.  Unfortunately, a change in the upper atmosphere will likely result in more serious icing issues in coming days across much of the nation.