Weather tracker: US hit by exceptional early winter cold spell | Environment

The eastern half of the United States suffered an extraordinary early winter cold snap this week, setting multiple low temperature records. Eighty weather stations in the deep south either tied or broke the daily minimum record on November 11. Jacksonville in northern Florida experienced temperatures as low as -3C early Wednesday morning; this was 17C below the year’s average minimum.

The cold outbreak also brought heavy snowfall to parts of Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. A phenomenon known as lake effect snow occurred along the south and west shores of Lake Michigan on Monday. This occurs when the cold air that blanketed the United States this week moves over the relatively warm waters of a lake or inland sea. This causes convection and heavy showers that move downwind into the interior of the lake and can persist for hours or even days.

Snowfall totals can be extremely localized and extremely difficult for forecasters to predict. Northern Indiana had the highest snow depth on Monday; 12 inches (31 cm) fell at Cedar Lake, with over 10 inches (25 cm) of snow covering a wide area. Due to the local nature of the lake effect snow, nearby Chicago was spared the worst of the snowfall, but heavy snow showers still brought 2-3 inches (5-7 cm) of precipitation in parts of the city throughout the day.

There were even reports of thundersnow, which occurs when convection is strong enough to produce lightning even while it is snowing. Lake-effect snow bands eased as the coldest air moved away from the United States on Tuesday.

Typhoon Fung-Wong continued its path in the Western Pacific after moving away from the Philippines on Tuesday. Fung-Wong took a turn north, then northeast toward Taiwan, making landfall as a tropical storm on Wednesday.

Despite weakening significantly in terms of wind speed, the storm still brought record rainfall to parts of eastern Taiwan. Suao town in Yilan county received 648 mm (25 inches) of rain through Tuesday. According to reports, floodwaters reached a depth of 61 cm (2 ft) in homes, forcing 8,300 people to evacuate to safer locations inland. Despite all the preparations, it is stated that 51 people were injured in the flood. Fung-Wong then weakened further into a tropical depression and dissipated as it moved northeastward from Taiwan on Thursday.