A strong cold front produced a 40 degree (f) temperature gradient across Oklahoma Wednesday afternoon. From the Oklahoma Mesonet

The stark contrast in temperature is also very apparent on the national temperature map from NCAR as well.

Snow, with winds gusting nearly 40 mph was Mother Nature’s way of welcoming folks in Western Kansas to November today. The folks in the Plains call this type of front a “blue norther” and they move fast bringing rapid temperature drops along with strong winds. This system will move into the Eastern USA tomorrow and bring blustery rains and a chill to much of the nation east of the Mississippi.

The overall storm track is running fast with little blocking right now, so expect more of these fast moving and strong storm systems over the next couple of weeks. There is even a hint of severe storms in the South later next week, but that’s far from certain at this range.