Bitter cold temperatures, heavy snow and high winds have combined to make the winter weather very unpleasant in most of the northern half of the United States and even in some of the southern areas normally immune from such harsh conditions.

All across the northern half of the USA, bitter cold and high winds have combined with snowfall to produce hazardous driving conditions.  This is typical December weather for Montana and the Dakotas and is not uncommon in Chicago.  It is, however, highly unusual for Seattle and the coastal cities to receive more than a bit of snow or to rarely achieve below-freezing temperatures.  This week ,Seattle was blanketed with about 10 cm of snowfall and bitter cold temperatures. This band of cold, windy and snowy weather extends all the way to the East Coast where it plagues Boston and the New England states.

Even Las Vegas, in the low desert of Nevada where snow rarely falls, received more than ten centimeters of snow.  Such unusual weather can be a nightmare for drivers.  Cities that are acustomed to such weather like Chicago and Boston have adequate equipment and facilities to quickly clear snow from roads and airports.  Cities like Las Vegas and Seattle, that seldom experience such conditions, have little snow handling equipment and few emergency vehicles to handle severe winter snowfalls. Both Seattle and Las Vegas were forced to close their airports and major highways for several days while they attempted to cope with this unusual weather, but they are now reopened.