On Monday morning, the thermometer bottomed out at -13 degrees (-25C).

National Weather Service observer Bob Simonson of WEEH-FM in Mears reported that the previous low temperature for March 3 was -8 degrees (-22.2C) set in 1943.

Record cold temperature set early Monday - Oceana's Herald Journal: Top Stories

Up to a foot of snow expected.
 NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN… MAR 17 2014

CONFIDENCE IS QUICKLY INCREASING FOR A MAJOR WINTER STORM IMPACTING THE REGION LATE TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT…

WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW LATE TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT WEST OF A LINE FROM REDWOOD FALLS TO HUTCHINSON AND CAMBRIDGE MINNESOTA.

WINTER STORM WATCH EAST OF THE WINTER STORM WARNING TO WEST OF A LINE FROM MANKATO…NEW RICHMOND AND RICE LAKE WISCONSIN.

SNOW WILL DEVELOP OVER CENTRAL MINNESOTA LATE TONIGHT AND SPREAD SOUTHWEST ACROSS WESTERN MINNESOTA OVERNIGHT. SNOW HEAVY AT TIMES TUESDAY MORNING.

THE SNOW WILL SLOWLY SPREAD EASTWARD THROUGH THE DAY… REACHING SOUTHERN AND EASTERN MINNESOTA AND FAR WESTERN WISCONSIN BY EARLY TO MID AFTERNOON.

TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 6 TO 12 INCHES EXPECTED ACROSS CENTRAL AND WESTERN MINNESOTA…

4 TO 8 INCHES POSSIBLE FROM SOUTH CENTRAL AND EAST CENTRAL MINNESOTA TO NORTHWEST WISCONSIN. HEAVIEST SNOW WILL LIKELY FALL ALONG A LINE FROM REDWOOD FALLS TO ST CLOUD AND MORA.

INCLUDING THE CITIES OF… ALEXANDRIA… LONG PRAIRIE… LITTLE FALLS… PRINCETON… MORA… MORRIS… GLENWOOD… ST. CLOUD… FOLEY… MADISON… BENSON…MONTEVIDEO… WILLMAR… GRANITE FALLS

OTHER IMPACTS…TRAVEL WILL BE VERY DIFFICULT TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT.

National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen, MN Forecast Office

Portland, Maine, about to break SEVERAL cold records

Portland could have the most days staying below freezing in March since records began in 1941.

Could also have 3 days in a row below freezing in the 3rd week of March, which would set another record.

And, if forecasts are correct, Portland could break a daily low-temperature record on Monday.


SO FAR THIS MONTH THERE HAVE BEEN 9 DAYS WHERE PORTLAND DID NOT RISE ABOVE FREEZING. THE RECORD FOR NUMBER OF DAYS IN THE MONTH OF MARCH WITH A HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 32 OR LOWER IS 10 DAYS SET IN A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT YEARS (1984, 1972, 1967, 1960). AS WE ARE NOW

IF CURRENT FORECASTS ARE CORRECT… PORTLAND WILL NOT RISE ABOVE FREEZING ON MONDAY OR TUESDAY. IT IS ALSO POSSIBLE THAT PORTLAND WILL STAY BELOW FREEZING ON WEDNESDAY AS WELL.

SINCE TEMPERATURE RECORDS BEGAN IN PORTLAND IN 1941… THERE HAS NEVER BEEN 3 DAYS WITH HIGHS OF 32 OR LOWER IN THE LAST THIRD OF THE MONTH OF MARCH.

BASED ON CURRENT FORECASTS IT IS LIKELY THAT PORTLAND WILL FINISH THE MONTH OF MARCH WITH 11 DAYS (POSSIBLY 12) OF HIGHS OF 32 OR LOWER… BREAKING THE OLD RECORD.

ALSO… THE RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE FOR MONDAY MARCH 24 IS 13 DEGREES SET IN 1997. THE CURRENT FORECAST LOW FOR PORTLAND MONDAY MORNING IS 12 DEGREES.

IF THIS OCCURS IT WOULD BREAK THE RECORD LOW FOR THE DATE. THE LAST TIME PORTLAND TIED A DAILY RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE WAS MAY 11, 2010. THE LAST TIME PORTLAND BROKE A DAILY RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE WAS MARCH 7, 2007.

http://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=NWS&issuedby=GYX&product=AFD&format=CI&version=1&glossary=0&highlight

Also, longest snow cover for Detroit since 1800s

And 3rd snowiest winter for Flint – so far.

“We have set records at both Detroit and Flint for consecutive days with snow cover,” says NOAA

“November and especially March are more like winter months in Michigan”

“Not too surprising that winter is also approaching another “Top Ten”…the most number of days freezing or below (32 degrees or lower for a high temperature). “

“February finished as another top 20 snowiest month with Detroit at its 9th snowiest February, Flint 3rd snowiest and Saginaw T-15th snowiest February on record.  All of this snow is placing southeast Michigan into the top of the seasonal snowfall records.  The past 10 to 15 years have had some active and snowy winters.  In fact, this winter puts 6 of the last 14 years into the top 20 snowiest winters on record. “

Seasonal Snowfall Stats


Location
 
Seasonal Normal
 
Winter 2013-14 (through 4 pm March 22nd)
 
Record (Year)
 
Current Seasonal Ranking
 
Detroit Area
42.5″
 
90.7″
 
93.6″ (1880-81)
 
2nd
 
Flint Area
47.4″
 
82.3″
 
82.9″ (1974-75)
 
3rd
 
Saginaw
45.5″
 
58.5″
 
87.2″ (1966-67)
 
15th
 

Most Consecutive Days with Snow Cover (1 inch or greater)

Both Detroit and Flint have set records for consecutive days with snow cover.  The snow cover streak began on 12/31/13 at Detroit, and on 12/9/13 at Flint, before ending in mid-March.

And it was COLD!

January placed in the top 15 coldest Januarys and February placed in the top twenty coldest (Detroit was 16th, Flint was 4th and Saginaw was 8th coldest February).

Source:
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=dtx&storyid=100198&source=0

At least 176 reports of missing or unaccounted for after the disaster


March 24, 2014 1:49PM ET |Updated 9:11PM ET




The number of people known to have been killed in a devastating mudslide in Washington state rose to 14 Monday, with reports of another 176 missing or unaccounted for individuals.

Authorities cautioned that the figure would likely decline dramatically, with the potential that some people had been reported more than once, and that others may have yet to come forward to be crossed off the list.

But with fears of fresh landslides hampering rescue efforts, emergency responders suggested that the chances of finding anyone else alive were slim.

"I'm disappointed to tell you that we didn't find any sign of survivors or any survivors today," Snohomish County Fire District 21 Chief Travis Hots said at a press conference Monday night. "Sadly, six more fatalities were recovered, bringing the death toll to 14."

On Saturday morning the slide, triggered after rain-soaked embankments along State Route 530 gave way, swept through part of Oso, a former fishing village about 55 miles northeast of Seattle, leaving an estimated one square mile covered in mud and debris. Several people were critically injured, about 30 homes were destroyed and a mile of the highway was blocked.

"One of the responders out there today said to me, 'When we do find a void space... like in a house, it's very tough to even search those buildings because they've been compressed with all that material," Hots said Monday. "He described it like cement that's gone into the voids."

On Monday evening, President Obama signed an emergency declaration and ordered federal aid added to state and local efforts, officials said at a press conference. This allows the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to coordinate in the search and rescue efforts.

Snohomish County's emergency management director, John Pennington, said that the number of reports of missing people was raised to 176 on Monday. The list was pulled together from various sources that authorities are working from, but does not necessarily mean there are that many injuries or fatalities.

But Pennington cautioned against holding out hope for many more survivors.

"Most of us here in the community believe we will not find anyone else alive," Pennington said. "I'm a man of faith... so does that mean we give up? No. But we are moving towards the realization that we're moving towards a recovery operation."

Among the possibly missing are construction workers commuting to the neighborhood and people just driving through.

Voices of people crying for help in the wreckage of the mudslide stopped on Monday, authorities said, dashing hopes of finding more survivors as searchers continued to pull bodies from the tangled debris field.

Search and rescue teams took to the air in helicopters and the ground on foot on Sunday to look for anyone who might still be alive. Their spirits were raised late Saturday night when they heard cries for help from the tangle of trees, dirt and wreckage. Dangerous conditions forced them to turn back in the darkness.

Adding to the worries was that the slide struck Saturday morning, when most people are at home. Of the 49 structures in the neighborhood hit by the slide, authorities believe at least 25 were regularly occupied.

Crews were able to get to the soupy, tree-strewn mud, which was 15 feet deep in places, Sunday after geologists flew over in a helicopter and determined it was safe enough for emergency responders and technical rescue personnel to search for survivors, Hots said.

He added that they did not search the entire debris field, only drier areas safe to traverse.

Both frequent, heavy rainfall and geography make the area prone to landslides. Less than a decade ago, another slide hit in the same general area. Geologists and other experts said the Stillaguamish River likely caused some erosion in the area, which was carved by glaciers millennia ago.

Snohomish County estimated in a recent report that 28,500 people lived in areas across the county that are susceptible to slides.

Authorities believe Saturday's slide was caused by ground made unstable by recent heavy rainfall.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee described the scene as "a square mile of total devastation" after flying over the area midday Sunday. He assured families that everything was being done to find their missing loved ones.

The slide blocked the north fork of the Stillaguamish River, raising fears on Saturday of downstream flooding. But water began to seep through the blockage Sunday, alleviating some concerns.

Bruce Blacker, who lives just west of the slide, doesn't know the whereabouts of six neighbors. "It's a very close-knit community," he said as he waited at an Arlington roadblock before troopers let him through.

Search-and-rescue help came from around the region, including the Washington State Patrol and the Army Corps of Engineers.

Dane Williams, 30, who lives a few miles from the mudslide, spent Saturday night at a Red Cross shelter at the Arlington school. He said he saw a few "pretty distraught" people at the shelter who didn't know the fate of loved ones who live in the disaster area.

"It makes me want to cry," Williams said.

Al Jazeera and wire services

CHICAGO:

THE IMPRESSIVE COLD THIS PAST WINTER CONTINUED DURING
 MARCH...WITH A MONTHLY AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF ONLY 31.7 DEGREES
 FOR THE MONTH. THIS RANKS AS THE 19TH COLDEST MARCH ON RECORD IN
 CHICAGO. HOWEVER...OF EVEN MORE INTEREST IS THE FACT THAT WITH THE
 ABNORMALLY COLD MARCH ACROSS THE AREA...THIS MADE THE AVERAGE
 TEMPERATURE FOR THE DECEMBER THROUGH MARCH PERIOD IN CHICAGO 22.0
 DEGREES...WHICH IS THE COLDEST SUCH PERIOD ON RECORD FOR CHICAGO
 DATING BACK TO 1872!

 HERE IS A LIST OF THIS YEARS DECEMBER THROUGH MARCH AVERAGE
 TEMPERATURE RELATED TO THE OTHER COLDEST SUCH PERIODS ON RECORD
 IN CHICAGO:

 RANK                 AVERAGE                YEAR
                    DEC-MAR TEMP
 --------------------------------------------------
1.                     22.0                2013-14
2.                     22.3                1903-04
 3.                     22.5                1977-78
                        22.5                1892-93
 5.                     22.7                1978-79


ROCKFORD:

 UNSEASONABLY COLD CONDITIONS ALSO OCCURRED IN ROCKFORD IN MARCH.
 THE AVERAGE MONTHLY TEMPERATURE WAS 29.6 DEGREES...WHICH WAS THE
 12TH COLDEST MARCH ON RECORD. THE DECEMBER THROUGH MARCH AVERAGE
 TEMPERATURE FOR ROCKFORD WAS 18.4 DEGREES. THIS RANKS AS THE 2ND
 COLDEST SUCH PERIOD ON RECORD IN ROCKFORD DATING BACK TO 1906!

 HERE IS A LIST OF THIS YEARS DECEMBER THROUGH MARCH AVERAGE
 TEMPERATURE RELATED TO THE OTHER COLDEST SUCH PERIODS ON RECORD
 IN ROCKFORD:

 RANK               AVERAGE                YEAR
                  DEC-MAR TEMP
 ------------------------------------------------
 1.                    18.2               1977-78
2.                    18.4               2013-14
3.                    18.5               1978-79
 4.                    19.1               1911-12
 5.                    21.0               1981-82

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=lot&storyid=101458&source=0