Just when many Americans thought winter was coming to an end, heavy snow and bitter cold are expected to grip the Midwest and Northeast again.
By Saturday afternoon the National Weather Service issued winter storm warnings in states including Kansas, Oklahoma, Illinois and Missouri. Points further east from Arkansas to New Jersey are just under watches for winter storms.
"Here's the climb at what we're going to see. This hot pink denotes a foot of snow, potentially. ... Maybe 10 inches in New York City, maybe eight to 10 in Philadelphia." (Via HLN)
That late-winter blast is coming from the storm system that Fox News reports dumped up to six inches of rain across parts of drought-stricken California.
And it comes at the tail end of an especially harsh winter. WPVI points out Philadelphia has had its third snowiest winter in recorded history with almost 60 inches overall.
Bitterly cold temperatures have also been common — especially in the Midwest and Northeast this winter. And they're expected this weekend as well.
The Weather Channel reports Milwaukee will see a low of five degrees below zero Sunday morning. And come Monday morning, people in Indianapolis could be waking up to a morning-time low of zero degrees.
But, despite what has seemed like historically icy temperatures, for much of the country, this winter isn't even one for the record books.
The Washington Post points out even though many had to bundle up in January — it was still warmer than January 2003, 2004 and 2009.
At least one forecast model says the Philadelphia area could get up to 15 inches of snow through Monday. Oh, and keep in mind the first day of Spring is less than three weeks away.
