Late-season snow and cold give parts of Northeast a taste of winter
Never mind that it was just a few days before the official start of summer in the Northern Hemisphere --Old Man winter brought wintry scenes and deadly nighttime cold to the higher terrain across the Northeast over the weekend. The frigid conditions were so extreme in some locations across New England that several hikers had to be rescued, and one hiker was pronounced dead due to severe hypothermia near Andover, Maine.
Images from the famous Cog Railway on Mount Washington showed snow and ice caked on the sides of the railroad that brings passengers from all over the world up to the highest peak in the Northeast, further demonstrating the treacherous conditions on top of the mountain Sunday morning.
Beginning Saturday afternoon the New Hampshire Fish and Game Conservation officers received multiple calls from hikers who were stranded in the cold, rain and sleet, calling for rescues. Most of the hikers were on the high-elevation summits and ridgelines of the Presidential Range in New Hampshire and Maine.
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Snow and ice impede travel on the Cog Railway to Mount Washington Sunday morning. (Mount Washington Cog Railway) |
Late Saturday night, officials in New Hampshire said they responded to a distress call from three hikers who had ventured off a hiking trail in the cold and snowy conditions. All three hikers were from Rhode Island and in their early 20s. Rescuers were able to help them to safety. The three hikers "were wet, cold and tired but otherwise unharmed," New Hampshire officials said.
Meanwhile, another rescue operation was launched Saturday night when a hiker was stranded on Mount Clay near Andover, Maine. The hiker, identified by authorities as 53-year-old Xi Chen of Andover, was suffering from severe hypothermia. The weather conditions were extremely unforgiving, with freezing temperatures, rain, sleet, snow, and winds gusting over 80 mph. Video from the rescue scene showed snarling winds blowing snow -- conditions that more closely resembled midwinter.
Rescuers were able to rescue Chen and transport him to a local hospital, but said Chen had been pronounced dead Monday morning.
Wintry scenes were even seen across the Adirondacks in upstate New York where some hikers captured snowflakes flying Saturday.
Morning low temperatures Sunday in the Northeast into the mid-Atlantic dipped down to below freezing in locations like Canaan Valley, West Virginia; Mount Washington, New Hampshire; and Waverly, New York, where the recorded lows were 25 degrees F, 27 F and 32 F
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Record low temperatures were measured in portions of Ohio and central Pennsylvania. Akron, Ohio, saw the mercury dip to 46 degrees F, enough to break the record of 47 F in 1947. DuBois, Pennsylvania, also experienced the chilly breath of Old Man Winter when the low temperature dipped to 42 F, breaking the record low of 43 that had stood 2008.
Many residents were left wondering if the calendar had flipped back to March and may have even dusted off their winter jackets Sunday morning.
"One reason why it was as cold as it was across interior portions of the Northeast and mid-Atlantic was that the air mass that was responsible for the frigid conditions originated from way up north in the Northwest Territories and Yukon Territory of Canada," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dave Dombeck explained.
Dombeck went on to say that with the intense and stubborn heat dome that has set up shop across the center of the nation, cold air was allowed to move unusually far southeast for this time of year into the eastern United States this past weekend.
Winds were also light, skies were clear and dew points were in the 30s in many locations Saturday night into Sunday morning thanks to the potent cold front that brought severe weather to the mid-Atlantic Friday evening, making this the perfect setup for cold air to settle into lower spots.
"For temperatures to get really cold at night, the ground, or at least the top inch or so of soil, needs to be dried out and not wet and damp from recent rainfall, which is exactly what happened after high pressure moved into the region Saturday," Dombeck said.
Snow this late in the season in Northeast occurs exclusively in the very high elevation locations, such as the White Mountains in New Hampshire.
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"For every thousand feet in elevation you climb, the temperature drops 5.5 degrees F on a dry, windy day," Dombeck explained.
This can make for dangerous situations for hikers in the region, as weather conditions can change dramatically during the course of an outing.
Conditions will remain cool across much of New England Tuesday as a warm front approaches from the west. AccuWeather forecasters advise hikers to remain alert before heading out across higher-elevation terrain since conditions can change rapidly throughout the day.
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