Advent of winter to bring blizzard conditions to much of U.S.

December 20, 2012 – CUMBERLAND. Md — The first official day of winter Friday may bring a real taste of seasonal weather with several inches of snow, gusting winds and wind chill readings in the single-digit range. And, to no surprise, the higher elevations are expected to bear the brunt of the storm. AccuWeather meteorologist Paul Walker said Wednesday that a winter storm will be moving into the area Thursday afternoon. “The storm will be starting off with warmer temperatures and rain and then change into snow showers Thursday night and into Friday. There will be a few inches of snow and windy with some pretty cold air moving in,” said Walker, who has been a professional weather forecaster for 35 years. Six to 12 inches of snow could be expected in far Western Maryland and 3 to 6 inches in the lower elevations of the region. The National Weather Service posted a winter storm watch for Garrett County and extreme western Allegany County for the period from Thursday evening through Saturday afternoon. Tim Thomas, local observer of the National Weather Service, said, “This will be a wind-driven event and we will have snow showers but we don’t really expect any snow accumulations in Cumberland.” But for Frostburg and points west, the weather may be much worse. The forecast also calls for wind gusts from 40 to 50 mph, temperatures with high readings in the lower 30s and upper 20s. Wind-chill readings are expected to hover in the 8- to 12-degree range. “The coldest period will be Friday night into Saturday,” said Walker. To the east, precipitation will begin as rain before colder temperatures bring flurries and a possible ground covering of snow into the weekend. The winter storm watch indicates snow could be heavy at times. In Garrett County, public officials warned of possible power outages from the storm. “The National Weather Service has upgraded the weekend weather event to a potential blizzard warning. Extremely high winds and heavy snow accumulations are expected from Thursday night through much of the weekend,” said Brad Frantz, director of the county’s emergency management and 911 operations, Wednesday morning. “Significant power outages are a distinct possibility once again, especially with the many limbs and branches still hanging from Hurricane Sandy,” said Frantz. –Times News

Russia hit with harshest winter in 70 years: Americans feeling their first wintry blast of the season on Wednesday could take some comfort from this: In Moscow it felt like 10 below – part of a week-long cold spell across Russia that has parts of Siberia feeling like 50 below. Across Russia, the deep freeze killed at least 45 people over the last week, 21 on Tuesday alone, the English-language Moscow Times reported Wednesday. Nearly 270 people were hospitalized, more than half with frostbite. Russia’s emergency ministry urged everyone in Moscow to stay indoors on Wednesday, while forecasters said the cold could get worse over the weekend. Siberia has been hardest hit, with cities like Novosibirsk dipping to minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit on Wednesday. With the wind chill, it felt like minus 47. The temperatures have been abnormally low for Russia at this time of year. Last week, the cold in Siberia nearly killed two circus elephants after their trailer caught fire, the RIA news agency reported. –MSNBC